Abstract:
Background Patients often experience moderate to severe pain after minimally invasive lumbar spine fusion (MIS-TLIF), thus postoperative pain control is particularly important. The erector spinae plane block technique (ESPB) is widely used for analgesia in thoracic, abdominal and lumbar surgery. However, the analgesic effect and safety of ESPB after MIS-TLIF has not been reported in the literature.
Objective To investigate the analgesic effect and early activity of ESPB for postoperative analgesia after MIS-TLIF.
Methods From October 2020 to October 2021, 81 patients who underwent MIS-TLIF in Chinese PLA General Hospital were included, with 9 males and 10 females in group A for ESPB combined with flurbiprofen ester intravenously, 13 males and 17 females in group B for flurbiprofen ester alone intravenously, and 14 males and 18 females in group C for PCIA. The postoperative VAS scores (6 h, 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h), analgesic satisfaction, occurrence of adverse reactions and analgesic remedy, time of first leaving bed and first exhaust time were compared in the three groups.
Results There was no significant difference in age, sex, BMI, ASA classification between the three groups (all P>0.05). The VAS scores in group A were lower than those in group B and group C at 6 h and 12 h postoperatively (P<0.05), and lower than those in group B at 24 h and 48 h postoperatively, and there was no significant difference between the three groups at 72 h (P>0.05). Postoperative pain control satisfaction was significantly higher in group A than that in groups B and C (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative adverse events in the three groups (P>0.05). Postoperative time of first leaving bed was significantly faster in group A than in the remaining two groups (P<0.05), and postoperative time of first exhaustion was faster than in group C (P<0.05).
Conclusion ESPB combined with flurbiprofen axetil analgesia shows satisfactory analgesia effect and shortens the time to early activity in patients after MIS-TLIF.