The following is a summary of “Effect of different nerve block strategies on the quality of postoperative recovery in breast cancer patients: A randomized controlled study,” published in the September 2023 issue of Pain by Wang et al.
Researchers performed a retrospective study comparing ultrasound-guided nerve blocks’ effects on postoperative recovery quality in breast cancer patients.
They assigned 150 females to the S group (serratus anterior plane block, SAPB), P group (paravertebral block, PVB), or ST group (serratus anterior combined with transverse thoracic muscle plane blocks, SA-TTMPB). Primary outcome as QoR-15 at 5 time points after surgery. Secondary outcomes with pain scores, time to first rescue analgesic, and chronic pain incidence at 3 months.
The results showed that the QoR-15 total score in the S group was significantly lower than in P and ST groups at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, and 7 days post-surgery. There was no significant difference between the P and ST groups (S vs. P vs. ST: 100.29 ± 6.20 vs. 108.51 ± 7.46 vs. 106.46 ± 6.95; 105.59 ± 6.18 vs. 113.06 ± 7.44 vs. 111.22 ± 6.56; 112.51 ± 6.32 vs. 119.88 ± 6.44 vs. 117.62 ± 6.09; 123.00 ± 5.78 vs. 128.86 ± 5.96 vs. 126.92 ± 5.72, P< 0.05). Dynamic and rest NRS scores at 6 and 12 h post-surgery were significantly higher in the S group compared to the P and ST groups.
They concluded that SA-TTMPB and PVB were more effective than SAPB in improving early postoperative recovery quality and pain.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejp.2178
