[Effects of RSB and TAPB on Postoperative Pain in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy].

Background: Several reports have examined meth- ods to control pain after a laparoscopic cholecystec- tomy (LC) and have shown regional anesthesia to be an effective method. We had been performing LC using simple general anesthesia (G); however, in 2013, we adapted a rectus sheath block (RSB), and in 2014, we used a combination of RSB and a subcostal transversus abdominis plane block (TAPB) on the right side. We report on the transition from G to regional anesthesia in LC and its effect on postoperative pain.

Methods: We anesthetized three groups of patients undergoing LC. Group 1 received G (n =32) ; group 2 received RSB (n=28); and group 3 received a combination of RSB and TAPB (n=31). Patients used the numeric rating scale (NRS) to record their levels of postoperative pain, and the scores were compared for each group.

Results: No significant differences were noted in NRS scores between the G and RSB groups; however, the scores in the RSB group tended to be lower. NRS scores were significantly lower in the RSB-TAPB group than in both the RSB and G groups.

Conclusions: This study showed that the combina- tion of RSB-TAPB effectively controlled pain after LC and lowered NRS scores.