Effect of Bilateral Ultrasound-Guided Quadratus Lumborum Block versus Lumbar Epidural Block on Postoperative Analgesia following Major Lower Abdominal Cancer Surgery

Background: Poor postoperative pain control leads to longer postoperative care, longer hospital stay and decreased patient overall satisfaction. Aim: To compare the efficacy and safety of bilateral ultrasound-guided quadratus lumborum block versus lumbar epidural block on the management of postoperative pain following major lower abdominal cancer surgery. Methods: The study was a double-blinded, and randomized study, conducted in South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Egypt. It included cancer patients scheduled for major lower abdominal cancer surgery in the period from 2019 to 2020. They were divided into two groups: Group Ι received pre-emptive ultrasoundguided Quadratus Lumborum Block (QLB) with 25 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine on each side of the abdominal wall before induction of General Anesthesia (GA), and Group II received pre-emptive lumbar epidural block with 15 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine before induction of GA. VAS score, and time of the first analgesic request and postoperative total analgesic consumption were evaluated. Results: Sixty patients were included in our study. VAS score at rest was comparable between both studied groups in the first 6 h. At 8 and 10 h, Group II had a significantly higher VAS score at rest (P < 0.001 and 0.026 respectively). Meanwhile, at 12 h, patients in Group I had a significantly higher VAS score (P = 0.026). Mean time of the first request for rescue analgesia was significantly prolonged in Group I (13.27 ± 2.38 hrs.) compared to Group II (10.20 ± 1.42 hrs.) (P < 0.001) respectively, mean total morphine consumption, How to cite this paper: Tohamy, M.M., Amr, S.A., Mohammed, A.A., El-Rahman, A.M.A., Farouk, B.R., El-Naggar, M.G.M., Mohammed, M.M. and Mohamed, M.A. (2021) Effect of Bilateral Ultrasound-Guided Quadratus Lumborum Block versus Lumbar Epidural Block on Postoperative Analgesia following Major Lower Abdominal Cancer Surgery. Open Journal of Anesthesiology, 11, 335-346. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojanes.2021.1112033 Received: November 2, 2021 Accepted: December 11, 2021 Published: December 14, 2021 Copyright © 2021 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/