GİZEM KARA, METİN ALKAN, RAMAZAN KOZAN, NURAY CAMGÖZ ERYILMAZ, MUSTAFA ARSLAN
Gazi Medical Journal - 2025;36(2):169-176
OBJECTIVE Postoperative pain remains a significant issue in mastectomy patients, and in recent years, regional block techniques have been frequently used in treatment. In this study, we evaluated the analgesic efficacy of erector spinae plane block (ESPB) in patients undergoing breast surgery. METHODS Our study was conducted retrospectively by reviewing the data from medical records of 94 adult female patients with ASA I-II-III who underwent breast surgery. Patients were divided into two groups: the control group (Group 1) and the ESPB group (Group 2). Both groups received postoperative intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) tramadol for 24 hours. The primary objective was to assess pain intensity and postoperative opioid requirement using the visual analogue scale (VAS) score. Additionally, postoperative hemodynamic data, adverse effects, demand for bolus tramadol from PCA, number of bolus doses received, total tramadol dose given, need for additional analgesia, and patient satisfaction were evaluated. RESULTS No difference was found in postoperative hemodynamic data. VAS scores at postoperative 1st, 2nd, and 4th hours were significantly higher in the control group than the ESP group (p=0.002, p<0.0001, p=0.005, respectively). Postoperative nausea and vomiting were observed in 9.1% of patients in Group 1, whereas none were observed in Group 2, and this difference was significant in Group 1 (X2=4.747, p=0.029). Additional analgesic requirement at 12 hours was observed in 20.5% of patients in Group 1, while 2% in Group 2, and the difference was significant (X2=8.385, p=0.004). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of PCA data and patient satisfaction. CONCLUSION Although ESP block reduced VAS scores in the early postoperative hours, we did not detect any effect on total tramadol consumption.
