• Jiao Huang and Jing-Chen Liu.
• Department of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, 6 Shuangyong Road, Nanning, 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.
• BMC Anesthesiol. 2020 Apr 14; 20 (1): 83.

BackgroundUltrasound-guided Erector Spinae Plane Block (ESPB) has been increasingly applied in patients for postoperative analgesia. Its effectiveness remain uncertain. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the clinical efficacy of ultrasound-guided ESPB in adults undergoing general anesthesia (GA) surgeries.MethodsA systematic databases search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing ESPB with control or placebo. Primary outcome was iv. opioid consumption 24 h after surgery. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with a random-effects model.ResultsA total of 12 RCTs consisting of 590 patients were included. Ultrasound-guided ESPB showed a reduction of intravenous opioid consumption 24 h after surgery (SMD = - 2.18; 95% confidence interval (CI) -2.76 to - 1.61,p < 0.00001). Considerable heterogeneity was observed (87%). It further reduced the number of patients who required postoperative analgesia (RR = 0.41,95% CI 0.25 to 0.66,p = 0,0002) and prolonged time to first rescue analgesia (SMD = 4.56,95% CI 1.89 to 7.22, p = 0.0008).ConclusionsUltrasound-guided ESPB provides effective postoperative analgesic in adults undergoing GA surgeries.

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