Abstract
Pectoral nerve blocks (Pecs I and Pecs II) are superficial thoracic wall blocks which block the pectoral and intercostal nerves. They can be used as analgesia/anesthesia for breast surgery and other procedures/surgeries involving the anterior chest wall (arteriovenous graft creation surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery and thoracotomy, etc.). The aim of this study is to evaluate publications in the scientific field of pectoral nerve blocks. ISI Web of Knowledge-Science was used for the analysis. All scientific works published included in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) from 1975 to January 27, 2019, were analyzed. A retrospective search was performed using key words “pectoral nerve block,” “PECS I,” “PECS II,” “pecs block,” “PECS block,”“Pecs I,” “Pecs II,” “PECS 1,” “PECS 2,” and “modified pecs I block.” We further analyzed these results by the “analyze” function of the software in terms of number of papers for each country, type of documentation, number of publications per year, and name of journals and authors. The number of citations to published works was also calculated by using the citation function of the same software. 72 papers were found related to pectoral nerve block. The biggest contribution was from India (24.28%), and followed by Japan (14.28%), USA (14.28%), Canada (7.14%), Egypt (7.14%), Italy (5.71%), and South Korea (5.71%). The total number of publications increased sharply in years from 2014 (n = 1) to 2018 (n = 28). We have detected that papers on the use of pecs block in breast cancer surgery, which is one of the most common surgical procedure in the world, are few in the literature. With this study, we hope to increase the awareness on this area. We believe that pecs block applications will become widespread with the increasing use of ultrasound in anesthesia and the increase in education in this field.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bas K, Derici S, Arkan T, Yener S, Atila K (2016) Global practice vs. research on bariatric surgery over the last decade. Clin Surg 1:1–5
Wang Y, Zhai X, Liu C, Wang N, Wang Y (2016) Trends of triple negative breast cancer research (2007–2015): a bibliometric study. Medicine 95(46):1–7
Kotepui M, Wannaiampikul S, Chupeerach C, Duangmano S (2014) Bibliometric analysis of diets and breast cancer research. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 15:7625–7628
Bas K, Dayangac M, Yaprak O, Yuzer Y, Tokat Y (2011) International collaboration of Turkey in liver transplantation research: a bibliometric analysis. Transplant Proc 43:3796–3801
Parras T, Blanco R (2017) PECS Blocks. ATOTW 346:1–6
Blanco R, Fajardo M, Maldonado TP (2012) Ultrasound description of Pecs II (modified Pecs I): a novel approach to breast surgery. Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim 59(9):470–475
Blanco R (2011) The ‘pecs block’: a novel technique for providing analgesia after breast surgery. Anaesthesia 66:840–852
Fuzier R (2015) Yet more on pecs block nomenclature. Anaesthesia 70:502–510
Chakraborty A, Khemka R, Datta T (2016) Ultrasound-guided truncal blocks: a new frontier in regional anaesthesia. Indian J Anaesth 60(10):11–19
Sebastian MP (2014) Pecs II or serratus plane block? Anaesthesia 69:1172–1182
Ghoncheh M, Mahdavifar N, Darvishi E, Salehiniya H (2016) Epidemiology, incidence and mortality of breast cancer in Asia. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 17:47–52
Youlden DR, Cramb SM, Yip CH, Baade PD (2014) Incidence and mortality of female breast cancer in the Asia-Pacific region. Cancer Biol Med 11:101–115
Agarwal G, Pradeep PV, Aggarwa V, Yip CH, Cheung PSY (2007) Spectrum of breast cancer in Asian women. World J Surg 31:1031–1040
Miyasaka K (2016) A Japanese perspective on patient safety. APSF 31(1):18
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yilmaz, F., Bas, K. A Bibliometric Analysis of Pectoral Nerve Blocks. Indian J Surg 82, 147–150 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12262-019-01905-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12262-019-01905-4