Comparison of perioperative analgesic effectiveness of ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane block and transversus abdominis plane block in patients undergoing laparoscopic nephrectomy

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to compare the efficacy of two regional anesthesia methods, transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block and erector spinae plane (ESP) block, for intraoperative and postoperative pain relief in patients undergoing laparoscopic nephrectomy.
Methods: Fifty patients aged 18-80 years with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification I-II scheduled for elective laparoscopic nephrectomy were included after ethical approval and informed consent. Patients were randomly assigned to either Group TAP (receiving TAP block) or Group ESP (receiving ESP block). Postoperatively, all patients received patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with morphine. We evaluated intraoperative hemodynamics, additional opioid use, resting and coughing pain scores (Visual Analog Scales - VAS), time to first PCA dose, postoperative opioid consumption, rescue analgesic needs, opioid side effects, and patient and surgeon satisfaction.
Results: In Group ESP, postoperative VAS scores at 8 hours and during the first mobilization were significantly lower (p=0.019, p=0.004, respectively) compared to Group TAP. Patient satisfaction was notably higher in Group ESP (p=0.014). However, other postoperative parameters were similar between the groups (p>0.05). These findings held true when considering only radical nephrectomies, with no differences in the assessed parameters between simple and partial nephrectomies.
Conclusion: In conclusion, both TAP and ESP blocks demonstrated comparable effectiveness in postoperative pain management for laparoscopic nephrectomies. Nevertheless, due to lower VAS scores during mobilization and higher patient satisfaction, the ESP block appears to be more effective for multimodal analgesia. Further research is required to comprehensively assess their efficacy in laparoscopic radical nephrectomies.