Riassunto dello studio

Sixty-one patients scheduled for an arthroscopic shoulder surgery under general anesthesia were randomized to receive an erector spinae plane block at the T2 vertebrae (n=31) or a sham block with normal saline (n=30) for post-operative pain control. Primary outcomes of interest were peri-operative and post-operative opioid consumption. Secondary outcomes of interest included post-operative pain scores on a Visual Analog Scale (VAS), the need for rescue analgesia, and the incidence of adverse events. Outcomes were assessed up to 48 hours post-operation. Results of this study revealed significantly lower total post-operative opioid consumption (p=0.009), lower pain scores within the first 48 hours (p<0.05 for all), and a lower incidence of rescue analgesia and dose of rescue analgesia (p<0.05 for both) in the active group compared to the sham group. Moreover, the incidence of nausea and itching post-operation were significantly lower in the active group (p<0.05 for both).