Comparison of Efficacy of Ultrasound-Guided Transversus Abdominis Plane Block With Ilioinguinal and Iliohypogastric Nerve Block for Postoperative Pain Relief in Open Inguinal Hernia Surgeries: A Randomized Clinical Study

Swarna  Banerjee; Vaddadi  Ravitej; Sumita  Swain; Bikash  Parida; Somadatta  Das

doi:10.18502/htaa.v9i4.20668

Swarna Banerjee Department of Anaesthesiology, Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar-751003, India
Vaddadi Ravitej Department of Anaesthesiology, Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar-751003, India
Sumita Swain Department of Anaesthesiology, Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar-751003, India
Bikash Parida Department of Radiodiagnosis, Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar-751003, India.
Somadatta Das Department of Radiodiagnosis, Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar-751003, India.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/htaa.v9i4.20668

Keywords: USG-guided block, Transversus abdominis, Ilioinguinal, Iliohypogastric, Inguinal hernia

Abstract

Background: Transverse abdominis plane (TAP) blocks and ultrasound-guided (USG) ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric (II/IH) nerve blocks (NBs) are frequently utilized for postoperative analgesia following inguinal hernia repair (IHR). This study evaluated the effectiveness of II/IH NBs as postoperative analgesics in patients having IHR surgeries.

Methods: This randomized, controlled, double-blind study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital in eastern India. Overall, 60 patients satisfying the inclusion criteria were selected and randomly divided into groups S, T, and I. All patients received spinal anaesthesia (SA). Patients in group S received only SA, while patients in group T received a TAP block immediately after SA. Finally, patients in group I received II/IH NB post-SA.

Results: The time to first rescue dose was the highest in the SA with the II/IH block group (283 ± 17.1), followed by SA with the TAP block group (266.3 ± 22.1) and SA alone (127 ± 20.8). All differences were statistically significant at P < 0.05. Group S received the highest number of rescue analgesia doses. Furthermore, patients in groups T and I needed almost a similar number of rescue doses (P = 0.17).

Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the mean duration of surgery in all three groups. Moreover, the visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain was similar in all three groups at different observation points, except at 2 hours and 6 hours post-surgery. At 2 hours post-surgery, patients belonging to group S had significantly higher VAS scores.