Erector Spinae Plane Block for Postoperative Analgesia in Laparoscopic Living-Donor Nephrectomy.

Objectives: Postoperative donor care is being improved with newly applied methods. Recently, because of its effectiveness, erector spinae plane blocks have been increasing in popularity. However, its use for laparoscopic living-donor nephrectomy is not fully known. We evaluated the effectiveness of erector spinae plane blocks in laparoscopic living-donor nephrectomy on postoperative pain and total analgesia consumption in the first 24 hours postsurgery.

Materials and methods: In this randomized, prospective cohort efficiency study, we included 60 donors scheduled for elective nephrectomy. The control group (n = 30) received analgesic medication according to organ transplant ward protocol for postoperative pain treatment; the erector spinae plane block group (n = 30) underwent an erector spinae plane block application with routine analgesic medication practice. We evaluated the efficacy of postoperative pain treatment and total analgesic consumption at postoperative 1, 6, 12, and 24 hours.

Results: Among the 60 donors in the study, there were no differences in the verbal numerical rating scale and the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale scores between the groups in the first 24 hours. However, total tramadol consumption in the erector spinae plane block group was less (P = .003) than in the control group. Regression analysis confirmed that block application was associated with tramadol consumption (P = .001).

Conclusions: Although erector spinae plane blocks applied under bilateral ultrasonographic guidance did not have any efficacy for pain relief in the first 24 hours postoperation, a decrease was found in analgesic consumption compared with the nonblock group.