[Sensory block levels for pain relief after cesarean section].
BACKGROUND
It has been proposed that sensory block from the 10 th thoracic nerve (T 10) to the 1 st lumbar nerve (L1) is necessary for pain relief after cesarean section. However, we have experienced complaints of unsatisfactory pain relief from some patients in whom T 10-L 1 sensory block was achieved. We evaluated the relation between range of sensory block and satisfaction regarding pain relief in patients after cesarean section.


METHODS
Pregnant patients after cesarean sections using continuous epidural infusion of 0.2% ropivacaine were allocated into two groups depending on the level of sensory block 6 hrs after surgery: below the T 10 level (T 10 group) and beyond the T 9 level (T 9 group). Degrees of satisfaction regarding pain relief and complications during a period of 16 hrs after surgery were compared.


RESULTS
Fifty patients were included in this study (21 in the T 10 group and 29 in the T 9 group). Sensory block in the T 9 group ranged from T 5 to T 9. The number of postoperative analgesics usage in the T 9 group was significantly less than that in the T 10 group.


CONCLUSIONS
We propose that sensory block ranging from T 5 to T 9 in addition to T 10-L 1 is necessary to obtain satisfactory pain relief after cesarean section.
Yamagishi
Akio
A
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa.
Takahata
Osamu
O
Aoki
Kenjiro
K
Hirai
Hiroyasu
H
Yokota
Hiroshi
H
Iwasaki
Hiroshi
H
D000328:Adult; D015360:Analgesia, Epidural / Q000379:methods*; D002585:Cesarean Section; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D011247:Pregnancy