Comparison Paravertebral and Serratus Anterior Plane Block in Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery.

Overview

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a minimally invasive alternative to thoracotomy that emerged in the early 1990s, aiming to reduce surgical stress and postoperative pain. While VATS generally results in less pain than thoracotomy, patients may still experience significant discomfort. Effective pain control remains crucial in VATS to minimize postoperative complications, especially pulmonary and cardiac events, which can arise from inadequate ventilation and impaired sputum clearance due to pain. Various strategies have been developed to manage postoperative pain, with multimodal approaches-combining regional or peripheral blocks with systemic analgesics such as NSAIDs and adjuvants-now considered standard. Among regional techniques, serratus anterior plane (SAP) block and thoracic paravertebral block (PVB) are commonly used. SAP block targets the thoracodorsal, long thoracic, and T2-T9 spinal nerves between the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles, providing effective anterolateral chest wall analgesia. PVB targets intercostal nerves within the paravertebral space and has shown superior pain control and improved lung function compared to systemic opioids or intrapleural local anesthetics. At our center, both SAP and PVB are routinely used for postoperative analgesia in VATS procedures for patients with lung masses. Pain levels will be assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), a reliable tool for evaluating both acute and chronic pain, unaffected by age or gender. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of SAP and PVB blocks in terms of postoperative pain, opioid requirements, and block-related complications in patients undergoing VATS under general anesthesia. The research is observational and will not alter routine clinical practices.

The study is a single-center randomized single-blind prospective clinical study, and after patients with appropriate criteria are included in the study; they will be assigned to either the paravertebral block arm or the serratus anterior plane block arm of the study using an internet-based randomization program (randomizer.org). Patients will not know which arm of the study they are in, but researchers who will evaluate the treatment outcome will know which block was applied to which patient. Paravertebral block or serratus anterior plane block will be applied to the patients under general anesthesia after VATS according to the arm they are in. After the patients are taken to the room, non-invasive arterial blood pressure, electrocardiogram, and peripheral oxygen saturation monitoring will be performed before general anesthesia. This is the routine monitoring method applied before anesthesia application. Standard routine general anesthesia will be applied to the patients. No change will be made in the general anesthesia approach due to the study.