TRANSVERSUS ABDOMINIS PLANE BLOCK OR QUADRATUS LUMBORUM BLOCK FOR POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIA AFTER TOTAL ABDOMINAL HYSTERECTOMIES: THE RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Background. Techniques of myofascial blockades are widely used after gynecological surgeries. The aim of study was to compare TAP block and QL block for postoperative analgesia of total abdominal hysterectomies. Materials and methods. We provided the retrospective single-center cohort study and included 51 patients 40-65 years old with complicated symptomatic uterus fibroids, who need total abdominal hysterectomy. Both groups underwent general anesthesia. In addition, in I group it was performed TAP block bilaterally via lateral access; in II group – QL block bilaterally via anterior (transmuscular) access. After surgery both groups` patients received multimodal analgesia with dexketoprofen, paracetamol, nefopam; in case of severe pain - nalbuphine. The stages of the study were 6 hours (h6), 12 hours (h12), 24 hours (h24), 48 hours (h48), 72 hours (h72) after surgery. We made the analysis pain level (with visual analogue scale - VAS), heart rate, mean arterial pressure, daily requirement of nalbuphine, duration of hospitalization. Results and discussion. It was found that the level of pain according to VAS in I group reached its maximum values on the stages h6 and h12 and was 4.8 [3,3; 5.8] points and 5.0 [3.9; 6.4] points, while in II group - 2.5 [2,3; 3.5] points and 2.1 [1.6; 4.1] points, respectively (p <0.05). We found significant differences in heart rate between groups on h12 stage when it was 86 [82; 90] beats / min in I group, and 72 [63; 79] beats / min in II group (p = 0.05). The daily requirement of nalbuphine on h12 stage had the tendency (p = 0.07) to be lower in II group (20.9 ± 1.1 mg / day), compared with the I group I (31.4 ± 2.9 mg / day). The need for nalbuphine use on h24 stage was significantly lower (p <0.05) in II group (5.8 ± 0.8 mg / day), compared with I group (22.5 ± 4.1 mg / day). The duration of hospitalization in I group was 7.8 ± 0.5 days, in II group - 6.2 ± 0.5 days (p>0,05). Conclusion. The use of QL block, compared with TAP block, showed a pain severity decreasing in 2 times (p <0.05), a tendency to reduce the need for nalbuphine use in 2.5 times (p> 0.05), and a tendency to reduce the duration of hospitalization by 1.6 days (p> 0.05).