Effects of Peripheral Nerve Block on Perioperative Recovery following Major Thoracic and Abdominal Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study With Propensity-score Matching.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that peripheral nerve block (PNB) use might be associated with improved perioperative outcomes after major surgery.

Background: PNB has been used to improve postoperative analgesia.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study with propensity score matching. We included patients aged ≥65 years who underwent major (≥2 hours) non-cardiac thoracic and abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. Data were analyzed according to whether patients received PNB or not during anesthesia. Our primary outcome was the length of hospital stay; secondary outcomes included occurrence of major complications in hospital after surgery.

Results: A total of 1915 patients were included in the full cohort, of whom 1316 received PNB and 599 did not; 1174 patients remained in the cohort after matching, with 587 in each group. Length of hospital stay after surgery was shorter in patients who received PNB than in those who did not [7 days (5-9) with PNB vs 7 days (5-11) without PNB: hazard ratio: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.02-1.29, P = 0.012]. When compared with patients who did not receive PNB, those who received PNB developed fewer major complications during hospital stay (relative risk: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.30-0.58, P < 0.001). Patients with PNB required less supplemental analgesia within 72 h (relative risk: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.59-0.84, P < 0.001).

Conclusions: The use of PNB was associated with shortened length of hospital stay and reduced major complications in older patients after major non-cardiac thoracic and abdominal surgery, possibly due to improved analgesia.