Unilateral paravertebral block: an alternative to conventional spinal anaesthesia for inguinal hernia repair.
BACKGROUND
Inguinal herniorrhaphy can be successfully performed using general, regional or local anaesthesia. Paravertebral block (PVB) has been used for unilateral procedures such as thoracotomy, breast surgery, chest wall trauma, hernia repair or renal surgery.


METHODS
We compared unilateral lumbar PVB with conventional spinal anaesthesia (SA) in 60 consenting ASA I and II males aged 18-65 years, scheduled for unilateral inguinal hernia repair. Patients were randomly assigned into two groups, P (n=30) or S (n=30) to receive either PVB or SA, respectively. Two patients (7%) in group P had to be converted to general anaesthesia due to block failure. During surgery, patients of both groups received intravenous infusion of propofol titrated to light sedation.


RESULTS
The time to first post-operative analgesic requirement (primary outcome measure) as 342 +/- 73 min in group P and 222 +/- 22 min in group S (P<0.0001). Time to ambulation was 234 +/- 111 min in group P and 361 +/- 32 min in group S (P<0.0001). Urinary retention requiring catheterization were found in zero (0%) patients in group P compared with five (16%) in group S (P=0.024).


CONCLUSIONS
It can be concluded that unilateral PVB is more efficacious than conventional SA in terms of prolonging post-operative analgesia and reducing morbidities in patients undergoing elective unilateral inguinal hernia repair.
Department of Anaesthesiology, North Bengal Medical College, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.
P
P
Bhattacharya
M C
MC
Mandal
S
S
Mukhopadhyay
S
S
Das
P P
PP
Pal
S R
SR
Basu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000762:Anesthesia Recovery Period; D000775:Anesthesia, Spinal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002045:Bupivacaine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000517:prevention & control; D020250:Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting / Q000209:etiology; D015742:Propofol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000187:drug effects*; D013997:Time Factors; D016055:Urinary Retention / Q000209:etiology; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
D000700:Analgesics; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D008012:Lidocaine; D002045:Bupivacaine; D015742:Propofol