• Pierfrancesco Fusco, Vincenza Cofini, Emiliano Petrucci, Paolo Scimia, Tullio Pozone, Giuseppe Paladini, Gaspare Carta, Stefano Necozione, Battista Borghi, and Franco Marinangeli.
• Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, San Salvatore Academic Hospital of L'Aquila, Italy.
• Pain Physician. 2016 Nov 1; 19 (8): 583-591.

BackgroundThe international literature is unclear regarding the analgesic efficacy of the transversus abdominis plane block (TAPB) after a Caesarean section (CS).ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to determine whether a correctly performed ultrasound-guided TAPB (USG-TAPB) could provide better control of acute postoperative pain during the first 72 hours after CS and if it could provide a faster postoperative recovery.Study DesignA double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial on pregnant women who underwent CS.SettingPain clinic and Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit in an academic hospital.MethodsA double-blind, randomized, controlled study was conducted with 96 patients who underwent CS. The patients in both groups received subarachnoid anesthesia (SAB) with 13 mg of 0.5% isobaric levobupivacaine. The patients were randomized so that some received USG-TAPB with local anesthetic, and the remainder received USG-TAPB with saline. The patients' demographic information and data regarding anesthesia, hemodynamic changes, side effects, acute rest and incident postoperative pain, painkiller consumption, recovery time of bowel function, and the time of hospital discharge were recorded.ResultsOur data reinforce the assumption that if TAP block is performed correctly and is part of a multimodal analgesic scheme, effective pain control is possible both for somatic and visceral acute pain. Furthermore, the need for painkillers is reduced, and their related side effects are moderate, yielding a positive benefit/cost ratio.LimitationsUSG-TAPB provides good analgesia for acute postoperative somatic pain, but opiates were still needed for the management of visceral acute postoperative pain.ConclusionsThese results could confirm the assumption that the correct performance of an USG-TAPB as part of a multimodal analgesic treatment could represent a viable alternative to common analgesic procedures performed for acute postoperative pain control after a CS.Key words: Bowel function, Caesarian section, incident pain, local anesthetics, multimodal analgesic treatment, postoperative recovery, rest pain, ultrasound-guided TAP block.

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