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The Use of Peripheral Nerve Blockade in Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery: Is There a Benefit?

  • Acute Pain Medicine (R Urman, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this review is to synthesize recent literature investigating the use of regional anesthesia for minimally invasive surgery.

Recent Findings

Recent studies investigating the use of newer peripheral nerve blocks such as erector spinae plane (ESP) and quadratus lumborum (QL) block are very limited.

Summary

Evidence supporting the use of peripheral nerve blockade in laparoscopic or robotic surgery is very limited and of low-moderate quality. While transverse abdominal plane (TAP) block may decrease opioid and pain scores after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, bariatric surgery, and colorectal surgery, the benefit of the block in the presence of multimodal analgesia remains to be clarified. Unilateral paravertebral block may be beneficial for percutaneous nephrolithotomy. ESP and rectus sheath blockade may enhance analgesia in laparoscopic surgery, but the magnitude of this benefit may not be clinically relevant. Limited evidence supports the use of QL block in laparoscopic urologic surgery. There is insufficient recent evidence to support the use of TAP or QL block for laparoscopic gynecologic surgery.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA

    Alberto Ardon

  2. Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Nadia Hernandez

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  1. Alberto Ardon
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  2. Nadia Hernandez
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Correspondence to Alberto Ardon.

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Alberto Ardon declares no relevant conflicts of interest. Nadia Hernandez has received honoraria from Butterfly Network, Inc.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Ardon, A., Hernandez, N. The Use of Peripheral Nerve Blockade in Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery: Is There a Benefit?. Curr Pain Headache Rep 26, 25–31 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-022-01002-4

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