Evaluation of Oblique Subcostal Transversus Abdominis Plane Block Effectiveness in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Abstract

ALS is a rare motor neuron disease. Since surgical procedures exacerbate ALS, surgical procedures are not usually applied except in the necessary cases. Pulmonary complications are the main cause of mortality in ALS patients, because respiratory and swallowing muscles may be affected. Although opioids provide effective analgesia, they are not the best choice in ALS patients because they can cause nausea-vomiting and have negative effects on respiratory functions. Oblique Subcostal Transversus Abdominis Plane Block provides highly effective analgesia in laparoscopic cholecystectomy operations. In this case report, we evaluated the effectiveness of the OSTAP block in ALS patients, which is one of the rare diseases and rarely underwent Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy. As far as we know, this case report is the first and only in literature. Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy was performed under general anesthesia on a 56-year-old male patient. Unilateral OSTAP block (30 ml 0.25%) was applied. The patient's postoperative 10th-hour pain score was 4, and 75 mg diclofenac sodium i.m. administered. The patient did not need any other analgesics. In this case; we detected that the OSTAP block provides effective analgesia.