title: Unilateral versus bilateral ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane blocks during ureteric shock wave lithotripsy: A prospective randomized trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been used for intra- and post-operative analgesia during abdominal operations and for ureteric shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) as well.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed at comparing ultrasound-guided unilateral versus bilateral TAP blocks as analgesic techniques for unilateral ureteric SWL.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective randomized comparative study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty patients scheduled for unilateral ureteric SWL were randomly allocated into two groups: Group (U) received unilateral TAP block in the form of 25 ml of bupivacaine 0.25% (i.e., 62.5 mg), and Group (B) received bilateral TAP blocks in the form of 25 ml of bupivacaine 0.25% (i.e., 62.5 mg) on each side.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was performed using SPSS program version 19 ((IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and EP 16 program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean values of intra- and post-procedural visual analog scale at different time intervals were around (30), which was statistically insignificant between groups (P > 0.05). There were no significant differences between groups regarding cardiopulmonary stability, postanesthesia care unit time, the total amount of rescue fentanyl and patient satisfaction scores (P > 0.05). There were no significant side effects in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ultrasound-guided unilateral TAP block is as safe and effective analgesic technique as bilateral TAP blocks during unilateral ureteric SWL. It can be used as the sole analgesic technique during ureteric SWL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ali Mohamed Ali
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Elnabtity
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
authors.forename: Waleed Mansour
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Shabana
keywords: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy; transversus abdominis plane block; ultrasound-guided