A Retrospective Review of Rib Fracture Pain Management at a London Major Trauma Centre

Overview

Thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) is widely considered to be the current gold standard treatment for rib fracture pain and is used in the Imperial invasive treatment pathway for rib fractures. However, TEA are often contraindicated due to other injuries or the use of anticoagulant medications, which also contraindicates other invasive nerve block techniques e.g. paravertebral catheters. A number of case reports have reported the safe use of alternative techniques such as Serratus Anterior Blocks (SAPB) and Erector Spinae Blocks (ESPB) and the anaesthesia community has taken them up widely based on this relatively limited evidence. In view of this, Womack et al recently published a large retrospective review examining the safety and efficacy of ultrasound guided paravertebral catheter analgesia techniques in rib fracture management along with small numbers of ESPBs. However, this data did not report the analgesic efficacy, patient reported pain relief or respiratory complications.The goal is to advance this body of evidence by reviewing our larger data set concerning the use of TEA and alternative regional techniques such as ESPB and SAPB. This comprehensive review will benefit patients by documenting the efficacy and safety of these techniques for clinicians managing rib fracture patients.

Primary Objective The primary objective is to examine whether novel fascial plane blocks, e.g. SAPB and ESPB, are effective pain relief modalities in patients with rib fractures - the proportion of patients with a reduction in pain. Secondary Objectives The investigators review the safety profile and complications of TEA and alternative analgesic techniques such as ESPB and SAPB used for rib fracture management in our trauma centre. In particular the effects of regional anaesthesia techniques on: 1. Opioid use 2. Nausea \& vomiting 3. Respiratory complications 4. Intubation \& non-invasive ventilation (NIV) 5. ICU admission for respiratory complications The investigators will assess the duration of use and complication profile of regional anaesthetic techniques, including infection, analgesic failure and damage to other structures during insertion e.g. the lung.

Conditions