• A Eksteen, J Wagner, T Kleyenstuber, and P Kamerman.
• Department of Anaesthesiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Department of Anaesthesiology, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: 0602611n@students.wits.ac.za.
• Int J Obstet Anesth. 2024 Nov 1; 60: 104259104259.

BackgroundTruncal blocks contribute to multimodal analgesia that enhances early recovery after caesarean delivery. The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is an established technique that offers somatic abdominal wall analgesia. The erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a fascial plane technique that may offer additional visceral analgesic effects. This study hypothesized that ESP block would offer superior analgesic efficacy to TAP block in women undergoing caesarean delivery under spinal anaesthesia.MethodsSixty-six ASA physical status grade 1-3 (≥18 years) patients undergoing elective caesarean delivery under spinal anaesthesia were randomly allocated to receive either bilateral ultrasound-guided TAP (N = 33) or ESP blocks at the T9 vertebral level (N = 35). The primary outcome measure was 24-hour cumulative morphine consumption. The secondary outcomes included time to first analgesic request, duration of block placement, numeric rating scale (NRS) pain scores at rest and movement, effect of pain on activities of daily living (ADLs) and care for the infant, patient analgesic satisfaction, frequency and severity of opioid-related side effects.ResultsThere was no statistically significant difference in mean (95% CI) 24-hour cumulative morphine consumption between groups: 32.0 (27.0 to 37.0) mg with TAP versus 27.0 (19.9 to 34.0) mg with ESP (p = 0.16). The mean (SD) duration of block placement was longer for ESP than for TAP blocks (10.7 (2.2) minutes versus 9.0 (2.5) minutes; p = 0.004). There were no significant differences in the other secondary outcomes.ConclusionThis study found similar postoperative opioid use and analgesic efficacy between ESP and TAP block after caesarean delivery performed under spinal anaesthesia.Trial RegistrationSouth African National Clinical Trial Registry (DOH-27-102022-5278): https://sanctr.samrc.ac.za/TrialDisplay.aspx?TrialID=8100, Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR202301645957324): https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/TrialDisplay.aspx?TrialID=24267.Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

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