The Effect of Different Local Anesthetic Volumes on Postoperative Analgesia for Thoracotomy Patients With Erector Spinae Plane Block

It is widely accepted that thoracotomy causes severe acute pain. This increases the frequency of postoperative pulmonary complications and postoperative morbidity. Many analgesic methods have been proposed for thoracotomy pain, including thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA), thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB), intercostal nerve blocks (ICSB), erector spinae plane block (ESPB), serratus anterior plane block (SAPB). Among these methods, ultrasound-guided TPVB and ESPB are the most used methods. TPVB has left its place to newer techniques such as ESPB due to its proximity to the pleura and its deeper location. ESPB is more superficial, easy to access, and less likely to have complications. In addition, ESPB application is increasing in patients who underwent thoracotomy and VATS. There is no consensus on the dose of analgesia in these studies. There are studies on volumes between 10 ml and 40 ml in the literature. In this study, it was aimed to compare the volumes of 20 ml and 30 ml containing local anesthetic at the same concentration (0.25% bupivacaine) of ESPB block to be performed with USG in patients who underwent thoracotomy.