Comparison of Postoperative Analgesia in Erector Spinae Plane Block (ESPB) v/s Subcostal Transversus Abdominal Plane Block (STAP) in Adults Undergoing Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.

March 10, 2026 updated by: Kulsoom Mehmood, Patel Hospital, Pakistan

Comparison Of Postoperative Analgesia In Landmark Guided Erector Spinae Plane Block And Subcostal Transversus Abdominis Plane Block In Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy; A Randomized Controlled Trial

Postoperative pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy remains clinically relevant. This double-blinded randomized controlled trial compares the analgesic efficacy of landmark-guided Erector Spinae Plane Block (ESPB) and subcostal transversus abdominis plane (STAP) block in 60 adult patients. Postoperative pain will be evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale at multiple time points, along with rescue analgesic requirements and time to first analgesic request, to assess the effectiveness of these techniques in resource-limited settings.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
      • Karachi, Pakistan
        • Kulsoom Mehmood

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

  • Patients are both men and women.
  • Patients aged 18 to 65.
  • Patients are scheduled for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
  • Patients with ASA Physical Status I or II. Finally, III.
  • Give consent.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

  • Hypersensitivity to local anesthesia.
  • Infection at the block site.
  • Coagulation disorders.
  • BMI above 40kg/m2.
  • Patients with pregnancy.
  • Converted to open surgery.
  • Drain placement.
  • Neurological or psychiatric disorders that impair cooperation.
  • Patients are unwilling to cooperate.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental: Landmark-guided Erector Spinae Plane Block
Patients will receive a landmark-guided erector spinae plane block on the right side at the T9 level with 30 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine after induction of general anesthesia.
Drug: Landmark guided Erector Spinae Block
Patients will receive a landmark-guided Erector Spinae Plane Block on the right side at T9 level with 30 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine after induction of general anesthesia.
Active Comparator: landmark-guided Subcostal Transversus Abdominis Plane Block
Patients will receive a landmark-guided Subcostal Transversus Abdominis Plane Block on the right side with 30 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine after induction of general anesthesia.
Drug: Landmark guided Transversus Abdominis Plane Block
Patients will receive a landmark-guided Subcostal Transversus Abdominis Plane Block on the right side with 30 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine after induction of general anesthesia.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
VAS score
Time Frame: From arrival in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) through 24 hours postoperatively, assessed at 30 minutes in PACU, and at 6 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours after surgery.
Postoperative pain intensity measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), a 10-cm scale ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 = no pain and 10 = worst imaginable pain. Higher scores indicate worse pain.
From arrival in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) through 24 hours postoperatively, assessed at 30 minutes in PACU, and at 6 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours after surgery.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
need for rescue analgesia and time for first analgesic request.
Time Frame: From completion of surgery through 24 hours postoperatively.
Proportion of patients requiring rescue analgesia during the postoperative period.
From completion of surgery through 24 hours postoperatively.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Patel Hospital, Pakistan

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

  • 12. Vadera HK, Mistry T. Erector spinae plane block: Anatomical landmark-guided technique. Saudi J Anaesth. 2019;13(3):268-9.
  • 11. Dey S, Mistry T, Mittapalli J, Neema PK. Landmark guided continuous erector spinae plane block: an adjunct for perioperative analgesia in a patient with difficult back operated for total hip arthroplasty. Saudi J Anaesth. 2020;14(2):276.
  • 10. Saadawi M, Layera S, Aliste J, Bravo D, Leurcharusmee P, Tran DQ. Erector spinae plane block: a narrative review with systematic analysis of the evidence pertaining to clinical indications and alternative truncal blocks. J Clin Anesth. 2021;68:110063.
  • 9. Kot P, Rodriguez P, Granell M, Cano B, Rovira L, Morales J, et al. The erector spinae plane block: a narrative review. Korean J Anesthesiol. 2019;72(3):209-20.
  • 8. Ozdemir H, Araz C, Karaca O, Turk E. Comparison of ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane block and subcostal transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a randomized, controlled trial. J Investig Surg. 2022;35(4):870-7.
  • 7. Altıparmak B, Toker MK, Uysal AI, Kuşçu Y, Demirbilek SG. Ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane block versus oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative analgesia of adult patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Randomized, controlled trial. J Clin Anesth. 2019;57:31-6.
  • 6. Tulgar S, Kapakli MS, Senturk O, Selvi O, Serifsoy TE, Ozer Z. Evaluation of ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane block for postoperative analgesia in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial. J Clin Anesth. 2018;49:101-6.
  • 5. Kapukaya F, Ekinci M, Ciftci B, Atalay YO, Gölboyu BE, Kuyucu E, et al. Erector spinae plane block vs interscalene brachial plexus block for postoperative analgesia management in patients who underwent shoulder arthroscopy. BMC Anesthesiol. 2022;22(1):142.
  • 4. Chin KJ, Pawa A, Forero M, Adhikary S. Ultrasound-guided fascial plane blocks of the thorax: pectoral I and II, serratus anterior plane, and erector spinae plane blocks. Adv Anesth. 2019;37:187-205.
  • 3. Forero M, Adhikary SD, Lopez H, Tsui C, Chin KJ. The erector spinae plane block: a novel analgesic technique in thoracic neuropathic pain. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2016;41(5):621-7.
  • 2. Ramkiran S, Jacob M, Honwad M, Vivekanand D, Krishnakumar M, Patrikar S. Ultrasound-guided combined fascial plane blocks as an intervention for pain management after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a randomized control study. Anesth Essays Res. 2018;12(1):16.
  • 1. Canıtez A, Kozanhan B, Aksoy N, Yildiz M, Tutar MS. Effect of erector spinae plane block on the postoperative quality of recovery after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a prospective double-blind study. Br J Anaesth. 2021;127(4):629-35.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 15, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

November 15, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 22, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 10, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PH/IRB/2025/023 (Other Identifier: Patel Hospital)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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