EOIB for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Despite the advancements in surgical and anesthesia techniques, pain following surgical interventions remains a significant issue concerning patient health and comfort today. The physiological response resulting from surgical trauma and stress can lead to various unwanted conditions in the pulmonary, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, metabolic, and neuroendocrine systems. These complications negatively impact wound healing, length of hospital stay, and costs. The primary goal in managing pain after surgery is to facilitate the healing process, avoid potential side effects associated with analgesic treatments, and enhance patient comfort.

Cholecystectomy, which plays a significant role among abdominal surgical interventions, can currently be performed using two distinct techniques: open and laparoscopic.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is considered the gold standard treatment for symptomatic cholelithiasis due to its ability to cause less trauma compared to open surgery, facilitate faster recovery in patients, result in less postoperative pain, and allow patients to return to their normal lives more quickly.

There are three components of postoperative pain observed after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. These include somatic pain associated with the laparoscopic trocar entry incisions in the anterior abdominal wall, visceral pain due to pneumoperitoneum and surgical dissection of the gallbladder, and referred shoulder pain resulting from the stimulation of the phrenic nerve by residual carbon dioxide gas.

Effective management of postoperative pain is crucial for reducing respiratory complications, shortening hospital stay, and increasing patient satisfaction. In this context, both nonsteroidal intravenous analgesics and opioids are used. However, opioids have undesirable side effects, including respiratory depression, nausea and vomiting, and reduced gastrointestinal motility. Therefore, multimodal analgesia methods that combine intravenous analgesics with regional anesthesia are preferred, allowing for the reduction of drug-related side effects while providing safe and effective postoperative analgesia.

Interfascial plane blocks have been widely used for postoperative analgesia worldwide in recent years. When using long-acting local anesthetics and performed under ultrasound guidance, peripheral nerve blocks can be administered more easily, effectively, and reliably, providing analgesia for approximately 8 to 24 hours.

The External Oblique Intercostal Plane Block (EOIB) is one of the interfascial blocks used in upper abdominal surgeries. The local anesthetic is administered between the anterior axillary line and the midclavicular line, specifically in the fascia between the external oblique muscle and the sixth rib. Cadaver studies have demonstrated the spread of local anesthesia to the anterior cutaneous nerve at the T6-9 dermatomes and to the lateral cutaneous nerve at the T6-10 dermatomes. These studies suggest that the EOIB could be part of multimodal analgesia in upper and lateral abdominal surgeries. In this study, our hypothesis is that the EOIB may reduce the amount of opioids used in postoperative pain management, decrease opioid-related side effects, enhance patient comfort, and shorten the recovery process.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients aged 18 to 65 who will be scheduled for an elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anesthesia
• ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) I-II-III

Exclusion criteria

• presence of coagulation disorder
• infection at the injection site of the block
• known allergy to local anesthetics
• advanced hepatic, heart or renal failure
• history of abdominal surgery or trauma
• conversion of laparoscopic to open surgery
• consumption of any pain killers within the 24 h before the operation
• chronic opioid consumption
• pregnancy
• alcohol or drug abuse
• body mass index (BMI) ≥ 35 kg m-2
• Impairment of the patient's cognitive functions (such as Alzheimer's disease, dementia, etc.).
• Cholecystectomy cases performed under emergency conditions.