• S J De Lara González, J Pomés, A Prats-Galino, J Gracia, A Martínez-Camacho, and X Sala-Blanch.
• Anestesióloga, máster en Competencias Médicas Avanzadas, Facultad de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, España.
• Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim. 2019 Oct 1; 66 (8): 409-416.

IntroductionThoracic erector spinae plane (ESP) block is now used for postoperative analgesia. However, although reports of lumbar ESP have been published, the anesthetic spread and mechanism of action of this technique remains unclear. We describe the lumbar ESP block technique and evaluate the spread of 20ml of solution administered at the level of the transverse process of L4 in a cadaver model.MethodsObservational study after 12 lumbar ESP blocks at L4 on a fresh cadaver model (6 bilaterally). The spread of 20ml of injected contrast solution was assessed by computed tomography in all 6 samples. Four of the samples were evaluated by anatomical study, 2 by plane dissection, and 2 others were frozen and cut into 2-2.5cm axial slices.ResultsThe injected solution spread from L2 to L5 in a cranio-caudal direction in the erector spinae muscle, reaching the facet joints medially and the thoracolumbar fascia laterally. In 33% of cases the solution did not spread anterior to the transverse process; in 51%, spread was minimal and did not affect the corresponding spinal nerves, and in 2 samples (16%), spread was extensive and reached the corresponding spinal nerves.ConclusionsLumbar ESP at L4 always acts on the posterior branches of the spinal nerves, but seldom spreads to the paravertebral space to block the spinal nerve.Copyright © 2019 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

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