• Jeroen Vandenbrande, Bob Jamaer, Björn Stessel, Eline van Hilst, Ina Callebaut, Alaaddin Yilmaz, Loren Packlé, Luc Sermeus, Rafael Blanco, and Hassanin Jalil.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Jessa Hospital Campus Virga Jesse, Hasselt, Belgium jeroen.vandenbrande@jessazh.be.
• Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2024 Jun 3; 49 (6): 429435429-435.

IntroductionSerratus anterior plane block has been proposed to reduce opioid requirements after minimally invasive cardiac surgery, but high-quality evidence is lacking.MethodsThis prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial recruited patients undergoing totally endoscopic aortic valve replacement. Patients in the intervention arm received a single-injection serratus anterior plane block on arrival to the intensive care unit added to standard of care. Patients in the control group received routine standard of care, including patient-controlled intravenous analgesia. Primary outcome was piritramide consumption within the first 24 hours after serratus anterior plane block placement. We hypothesized that compared with no block, patients in the intervention arm would consume 25% less opioids.ResultsSeventy-five patients were analyzed (n=38 in intervention arm, n=37 in control arm). When comparing the serratus anterior plane group with the control group, median 24-hour cumulative opioid use was 9 (IQR 6-19.5) vs 15 (IQR 11.3-23.3) morphine milligram equivalents, respectively (p<0.01). Also, pain scores at 4, 8 and 24 hours were lower in the intervention arm at 4, 8 and 24 hours, respectively.ConclusionCombined deep and superficial single-injection serratus anterior plane block is superior to standard of care in reducing opioid requirements and postoperative pain intensity up to 24 hours after totally endoscopic aortic valve replacement.Trial Registration NumberNCT04699422.© American Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. Published by BMJ.

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