Introduction: The prevention of respiratory complications is a major issue after thoracic surgery for lung cancer, and requires adequate post-operative pain management. The erector spinae plane block (ESPB) may decrease post-operative pain. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of ESPB on pain after video or robot-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS or RATS).
Methods: The main outcome of this retrospective study with a propensity score analysis (PSA) was to compare the post-operative pain at 24 h at rest and at cough between a group that received ESPB and a group that received paravertebral block (PVB). Post-operative morphine consumption at 24 h and complications were also assessed.
Results: One hundred and seven patients were included: 54 in the ESPB group and 53 in the PVB group. The post-operative median pain score at rest and cough was lower in the ESPB group compared to the PVB group at 24 h (respectively, at rest 2 [1; 3.5] vs. 2 [0; 4], p = 0.0181, with PSA; ESPB -0.80 [-1.50; -0.10], p = 0.0255, and at cough (4 [3; 6] vs. 5 [4; 6], p = 0.0261, with PSA; ESPB -1.48 [-2.65; -0.31], p = 0.0135). There were no differences between groups concerning post-operative morphine consumption at 24 h and respiratory complications.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that ESPB is associated with less post-operative pain at 24 h than PVB after VATS or RATS for lung cancer. Furthermore, ESPB is an acceptable and safe alternative compared to PVB.
Keywords: analgesia; erector spinae plane block; lung cancer; paravertebral block; post-operative pain; video-assisted thoracic surgery.