Comparison of spinal anaesthesia and erector spinae plane block in unilateral inguinal hernia: Randomised clinical trial.

Introduction: The objective of our study was to compare erector spinae plane block (ESP) with spinal anaesthesia (SA) for inguinal hernia repair with respect to anaesthetic efficacy, post-operative analgesia, mobilisation, discharge, complication and side effects.

Patients and methods: The study included 52 patients over 50 years of age, with the American Society of Anaesthesia physical status Class I-III. Group ESP ( n = 26) was applied 30 ml of mixed local anaesthetic mixture applied at the L1 level to the plane of the erector spinae and 10 ml of tumescent when necessary, while Group SA ( n = 26) was applied 3 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine at the L3-L4/L2-L3 level.

Results: Intraoperative Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) value was lower in Group S, whereas the 6 th -h VAS value was lower in Group ESP ( P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the VAS values at hour 12 and 24 ( P > 0.05). Reaching post-anaesthesia discharge criteria 9 and time to mobilisation and oral feeding was shorter in Group ESP, whereas post-procedure waiting time was shorter in Group S ( P < 0.05). While the need for post-operative analgesics was higher in Group S ( P < 0.05), there was a high level of patient satisfaction in Group ESP ( P = 0.05). Intraoperative midazolam requirement was lower in Group S, post-operative diclofenac requirement was lower in Group ESP ( P < 0.05), post-operative urinary retention and tremor were higher in Group S ( P = 0.05).

Conclusion: ESP block provides adequate surgical anaesthesia compared to SA (non-inferiority) for inguinal hernia repair. It is associated with less analgesic requirement, low post-operative pain, less complication rate and high patient satisfaction in the post-operative period.