Mohammed N Albaraesi
The Libyan International Medical University, Libya
Title: Local wound in ltration versus bilateral super cial cervical plexus block for prevention of postthyroidectomy pain
Biography
Biography: Mohammed N Albaraesi
Abstract
Background: Regional anesthesia for post-thyroidectomy pain management has recently become as a new trend that provides a good quality of analgesia with more prolonged duration and lesser side effects than IV analgesia.
Aim of the Study: We aimed to assess the bilateral superficial cervical plexus block (BSCB) versus local wound infiltration (LWI) after thyroid surgery with regard to postoperative analgesic efficacy.
Patients & Methods: Sixty adult patients of both sexes scheduled for elective thyroid surgery were randomly categorized into three equal groups. In the first group no regional block was performed (group-C), in the second group (group-L) the wound was infiltrated with 0.5% bupivacaine at the end of surgery, and the third group (group-B) received BSCB immediately after the induction of general anesthesia. Pain intensity was evaluated by the eleven-category numerical rating scale (NRS) and the four-category verbal rating scale (VRS) at the first hour after surgery, and then every 4 hours for the 24 hours postoperatively.
Results: NRS and VRS mean scores were significantly lower in groups (L) and (B) compared with the (C) group. The mean (± SD) of postoperative NRS scores was 3.82 (± 0.65), 2.01 (± 0.61), and 1.36 (± 0.70) in the (C), (L), and (B) groups respectively. The corresponding values measured by VRS were 2.49 (± 0.20), 1.71 (± 0.22), and 1.55 (± 0.23).
Conclusion: Although both techniques are effective for post-thyroidectomy pain management during the first postoperative 24 hours, BSCB provides a better analgesia and effectively decreases postoperative pethidine consumption more than LWI.