The role of paravertebral block in decreasing postoperative pain in elective breast surgeries.
BACKGROUND
Regional anesthesia is an alternative to general anesthesia in selected surgical settings. Paravertebral block as a regional anesthesia technique was compared with general anesthesia for elective breast surgeries regarding postoperative pain.


METHODS
Sixty patients scheduled for breast surgery were randomized to two groups of 30 patients each: general anesthesia (control group) and paravertebral block (study group). Postoperative pain, the primary outcome variable of the study, was assessed by a numeric rating scale at 1, 3, and 6 hours during the postoperative period. Total amount of morphine and hospital stay were also recorded. Student's t-test and ANOVA were used to compare results. A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.


RESULTS
The paravertebral group was found to have better postoperative pain relief (p=0.0000), reduced need for morphine (p=0.0000), and a shorter hospital stay (p=0.0000) compared with the general anesthesia group.


CONCLUSIONS
The study suggests paravertebral block as a suitable alternative to general anesthesia in selected breast surgical patients regarding postoperative pain reduction.
Dabbagh
Ali
A
Department of Anesthesiology, Taleghani Hospital, School of Medicine, Shaheed Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
Elyasi
Hedayatollah
H
D000328:Adult; D001940:Breast / Q000601:surgery*; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000379:methods*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000517:prevention & control*