Erector Spinae Plane Block Versus Rectus Sheath Block for Postoperative Analgesia After Supraumbilical Surgery

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of erector spinae plane block (ESPB) and rectus sheath block (RSB) in providing postoperative analgesia after supraumbilical surgery in adult patients and their impact on the patient's outcomes.

Background: Supraumbilical surgery for hernia repair is the second-most-popular after surgical inguinal hernia repair and is accompanied by moderate to severe postoperative pain, so patients always require large doses of opioids within the first postoperative day. Because opioids have several adverse effects such as drowsiness, pruritus, nausea, and vomiting, regional analgesic techniques are an essential component of postoperative opioid-sparing analgesia. Previous studies have shown that regional analgesic techniques after abdominal wall surgeries can be an essential element of a postoperative pain management strategy with minimal adverse effects and hemodynamic responses.

ESPB provides both somatic and visceral analgesia to the abdominal wall, through the blockade of the anterior rami of spinal nerves and the rami communicants involving sympathetic nerve fibers. RSB provides analgesia to the anterior abdominal wall from the xiphoid process to the symphysis pubis, through the blockade of the anterior rami of the 7th to 12th intercostal nerves. The dermatomal distribution of ESPB and RSB makes them ideal regional analgesic techniques after abdominal surgery, and to our knowledge, there were no previous trials that studied the difference between them.

Patients and Methods: This was a prospective, randomized (1:1), double-blind clinical trial on 60 patients scheduled for elective supraumbilical surgery under general anesthesia at our hospital. Patients will be randomly allocated into two equal groups (30 patients each) and will receive: in group E; general anesthesia with postoperative bilateral ultrasound-guided ESPB, whereas in group R; general anesthesia with postoperative bilateral ultrasound-guided RSB.