Study Summary

Seventy-four patients with chronic low back pain undergoing elective lumbar spinal fusion surgery were randomized to receive bilateral erector spinae plane block (ESPB) with ropivacaine or placebo saline injection. The primary outcome of interest was postoperative pain intensity 1 hour after emergence from anesthesia measured using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). Secondary outcomes included 12-hour opioid consumption, time to first opioid use, quality of recovery, postoperative pain scores, opioid use at 30 days, rescue analgesic use, antiemetic consumption, and hospital length of stay. Outcomes were assessed during the immediate postoperative period through 30 days after surgery. Overall, the results of the study revealed no significant differences between groups in early postoperative pain scores, opioid consumption, quality of recovery, or long-term opioid use. These findings suggest that bilateral ESPB with ropivacaine provides limited additional analgesic benefit when incorporated into a multimodal analgesic regimen following lumbar spinal fusion surgery.