• Amarjeet Kumar, Chandni Sinha, Poonam Kumari, Ajeet Kumar, Amit Kumar Sinha, and Bindey Kumar.
• Department of Trauma and Emergency, AIIMS, Patna, Bihar, India.
• Indian J Anaesth. 2020 Nov 1; 64 (11): 949-953.

Background And AimsUltrasound guided rhomboid intercostal plane block (RIB) is a relatively new regional anaesthesia technique that has shown to provide dermatomal coverage from T2-9 on the whole anterior and posterior hemithorax. It has proved effective in providing preemptive analgesia in various surgeries like mastectomy and thoracotomy. The aim of the study was to study the efficacy of RIB in paediatric patients: 7 to 12 years undergoing thoracoscopic surgeries in terms of analgesic requirement, pain scores and adverse effects.MethodsIn this randomised, prospective double-blind study, 40 American Society of Anesthesiologists I/II patients, of the age group 7-12 years scheduled for Video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) surgery were recruited. The patients were allocated to one of the two groups: group R: general anaesthesia + RIB (RIB group) and group F: general anaesthesia (FENT group). Perioperative opioid consumption and postoperative pain scores were recorded. Adverse effects like respiratory depression and nausea were also noted.ResultsPatients in group R required less intraoperative fentanyl dose (1.45 ± 0.65 vs 2.90 ± 0.45) (P < 0.05). Postoperative opioid consumption was also less in this group R (2.90 ± 0.91 vs 5.56 ± 1.08) (P < 0.05). Less number of patients experienced nausea (2 vs 6) and respiratory depression (2 vs 7) in group R.ConclusionUltrasound guided RIB reduces perioperative opioid consumption in patients undergoing VATS surgery with lesser postoperative pain scores.Copyright: © 2020 Indian Journal of Anaesthesia.

3 keywords...

hide…