Study Summary

Forty-eight patients with rotator cuff pathology undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery were randomized to receive suprascapular nerve and axillary nerve block (SSANB) with liposomal bupivacaine or interscalene brachial plexus block (IBB). The primary outcomes of interest were resting numerical rating scale (NRS) pain scores at 72 hours postoperatively and incidence of hemidiaphragmatic paralysis (HDP) 30 minutes after block. Secondary outcomes included opioid consumption, sensory and motor block duration, quality of recovery scores (QoR-15), perioperative adverse events, and patient satisfaction with analgesia. Outcomes were assessed up to 72 hours postoperatively. Overall, the results of the study revealed that postoperative pain scores were noninferior between groups, while the SSANB group demonstrated a significantly lower incidence of HDP. These findings suggest that SSANB provides comparable analgesia to IBB while reducing respiratory complications.