Krishnankutty Saradas Asha
BACKGROUND
A revolution in the management of acute postoperative pain has occurred during the past three decades. The transverse abdominis plane block is a peripheral nerve block used to provide analgesia to anterior and lateral abdominal wall. By introducing local anaesthetic to transverse abdominis plane via the triangle of Petit, it is possible to block the sensory nerves of the anterior abdominal wall before they leave this plane and pierce the musculature to innervate the entire anterior abdominal wall. TAP block provides excellent pain relief especially in lower abdominal surgeries.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
An observational study is carried out in sixty patients who underwent lower abdominal surgeries and who were given TAP block or traditional parenteral analgesia, 30 in each group. All patients in the study group were scheduled for postoperative pain monitoring using numerical rating scale at specific times 2/6/12/24 hours postoperatively.
RESULTS
Considering socioeconomic data, there was no significant difference between the two groups with regard to age, sex and weight (p>0.05). Among clinical variables, the test and control group were comparable with respect to ASA physical status and haemodynamic parameters (p>0.05). There was significant difference in the pain scores of the 2 groups at 2, 6 and 12 hours, but at 24 hours, the pain scores were not significant.
CONCLUSION
We conclude that TAP block is an effective method of providing postoperative analgesia in patients who undergo lower abdominal surgeries and we recommend the same for all patients undergoing lower abdominal surgeries.
