title: Pain relief after transversus abdominis plane block for abdominal surgery in children: a service evaluation.
abstract: We carried out a prospective service evaluation of the quality of pain control after preoperative transverse abdominis plane (TAP) block in 100 children undergoing abdominal surgery. Data were collected on type of procedure, age, weight, level of the block, local anesthetic used, additional analgesia, and hourly pain scores. Of the 100 patients, 87 were included in the evaluation, 77% of who were less than 1 year old. Adequate pain relief was achieved in 93% of all patients. Almost half (47%) of our patients did not require intravenous (IV) opioids in the postoperative period and 27% did not need any IV opioids at all. Our results confirm the good quality of perioperative analgesia achieved with a TAP block as part of a multimodal approach in children undergoing abdominal surgery. Depending on the patient's age and the type of procedure, a TAP block may eliminate the need for IV opioids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Birmingham Children's Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: Elonka
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bergmans
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Birmingham Children's Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: Alet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Birmingham Children's Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, UK.
authors.forename: Oliver W
authors.initials: OW
authors.lastname: Masters
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Birmingham Children's Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: Karl C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Thies
keywords: TAP block; intravenous opioids; pain control; perioperative analgesia; postoperative analgesia