English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Post-operative pain and discomfort is a common side effect of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) surgery. The study intended to evaluate the efficacy of landmark guided erector spinae plane block (ESPB) in early post-operative pain relief following (PCNL) surgery. METHODS In this randomised prospective, single blind, interventional study, 70 patients aged 20 - 60 years of ASA grade I and II, scheduled for elective percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) surgery under general anaesthesia were included. Patients were randomly allotted into two groups of 35 each. Group 1 was the control group and received parenteral analgesia according to institutional protocol for postoperative pain relief. Group 2 was the study group and received landmark guided erector spinae plane block (ESPB) with 20 cc of 0.25 % bupivacaine for postoperative pain relief. Post-operatively patients were monitored for pain and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score was noted at 2nd, 4th and 6th hr and was maintained below 4 by providing them with additional analgesics if required. Time and doses of analgesics required were recorded. RESULTS All the statistical analysis was done using R-Studio 1.2.5001 software. MannWhitney-U test was used for quantitative variables of pain score. Proportion test was used for qualitative demographic data and for post-operative analgesics requirement. Both the groups were comparable on demographic variables. The average VAS score at 2nd and 4th hr was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group (P < 0.05). The VAS score at 6th hr was comparable in both the groups. The analgesic requirement was significantly lower in study group as compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS The landmark guided ESPB is an effective and simple method to alleviate immediate postoperative pain in PCNL surgeries under general anaesthesia. KEYWORDS Erector Spinae Plane Block, Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy Surgery, Postoperative Pain