Ultrasound Guided Bilateral Superficial Cervical Plexus Block Versus Local Wound Infiltration in Patients Undergoing Total Thyroidectomy: A Randomized Controlled Study

We performed a double-blind, randomised, controlled trial that recruited patients undergoing total thyroidectomy at the Suez Canal University Hospital during the period between February 2019 and January 2021. Patients were eligible if they were older than 20 years, had an American Association of Anesthesiologists' (ASA) level of I-II, and were scheduled for total thyroidectomy. We excluded patients with documented allergies to the study's intervention materials, moderate-to-severe obesity, > 1st-degree heart block, chronic pulmonary or cardiac diseases, hepatic or renal dysfunction, and/or coagulopathies. All patients were required to fill out informed consent before enrollment.

Eligible patients were randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to receive BSCPB or LWI using the computer software program (www. Randmizer.org) and allocation sequences were done using opaque, closed envelopes. The BSCPB group received BSCBP (after general anaesthesia but before the start of surgery) from two syringes containing ropivacaine 0.5 % and LWI with saline. The LWI group received LWI with ropivacaine 0.5% and the BSCPB from two syringes containing saline.

The primary outcome of the present study was postoperative opioid consumption in the first postoperative day. The secondary outcomes included the total intraoperative fentanyl and isoflurane consumption, time to first required analgesic, and VAS during the first 24 hours postoperatively.