Back to Journals » Local and Regional Anesthesia » Volume 6

The efficacy of the semi-blind approach of transversus abdominis plane block on postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair: a prospective randomized double-blind study

Authors Salman AE, Yetişir F, Yürekli B, Aksoy M, Yıldırım M, Kılıç M

Received 20 September 2012

Accepted for publication 18 October 2012

Published 18 January 2013 Volume 2013:6 Pages 1—7

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/LRA.S38359

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



A Ebru Salman,1 Fahri Yetisir,2 Banu Yürekli,3 Mustafa Aksoy,1 Murat Yildirim,2 Mehmet Kiliç2

1Anesthesiology and Reanimation Department, 2General Surgery Department, Atatürk Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey; 3Endocrinology Department, Bozyaka Research and Training Hospital, Izmir, Turkey

Purpose: In this prospective, randomized, double-blind study, our aim was to compare the analgesic efficacy of the semi-blind approach of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block with a placebo block in patients undergoing unilateral inguinal hernia repair.
Methods: After receiving hospital ethical committee approval and informed patient consents, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I–III patients aged 18–80 were enrolled in the study. Standard anesthesia monitoring was applied to all patients. After premedication, spinal anesthesia was administered to all patients with 3.5 mL heavy bupivacaine at the L3-L4 subarachnoid space. Patients were randomly allocated into 2 groups. Group I (n = 32) received a placebo block with 20 mL saline, Group II (n = 32) received semi-blind TAP block with 0.25% bupivacaine in 20 mL with a blunt regional anesthesia needle into the neurofascial plane via the lumbar triangle of Petit near the midaxillary line before fascial closure. At the end of the operation, intravenous (IV) dexketoprofen was given to all patients. The verbal analog scale (VAS) was recorded at 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours postoperatively. Paracetamol IV was given to patients if their VAS score > 3. A rescue analgesic of 0.05 mg/kg morphine IV was applied if VAS > 3. Total analgesic consumption and morphine requirement in 24 hours were recorded.
Results: TAP block reduced VAS scores at all postoperative time points (P < 0.001). Postoperative analgesic and morphine requirement in 24 hours was significantly lower in group II (P < 0.01).
Conclusion: Semi-blind TAP block provided effective analgesia, reducing total 24-hour postoperative analgesic consumption and morphine requirement in patients undergoing elective unilateral inguinal hernia repair.

Keywords: pain, inguinal hernia, transversus abdominis plane

Creative Commons License © 2013 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.