title: Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane blocks for patients undergoing laparoscopic hand-assisted nephrectomy: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
abstract: Postoperative pain is a common complaint following living kidney donation or tumor resection using the laparoscopic hand-assisted technique. To evaluate the potential analgesic benefit of transversus abdominis plane blocks, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 21 patients scheduled to undergo elective living-donor nephrectomy or single-sided nephrectomy for tumor. Patients were randomized to receive either 20 mL of 0.5% ropivacaine or 20 mL of 0.9% saline bilaterally to the transversus abdominis plane under ultrasound guidance. We found that transversus abdominis plane blocks reduced overall pain scores at 24 hours, with a trend toward decreased total morphine consumption. Nausea, vomiting, sedation, and time to discharge were not significantly different between the two study groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Division of Transplant Anesthesia, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aniskevich
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplantation, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: C Burcin
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Taner
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplantation, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Dana K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Division of Regional Anesthesia, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Robards
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Division of Regional Anesthesia, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Steven B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Sciences Research, Section of Biostatistics, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Colleen S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Ilana I
authors.initials: II
authors.lastname: Logvinov
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Sciences Research, Section of Biostatistics, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Clendenen
keywords: kidney donor; nephrectomy; transversus abdominis plane block; ultrasound guidance