Analgesic Efficacy of bilateral superficial cervical plexus block for thyroid surgery under general anesthesia; a prospective cohort study

Demographic, anthropometric and clinical characteristics of participants A total of 74 patients (34 in each group) were involved. The demographic, anthropometric and clinical characteristics of participants were found comparable between the groups [Table 1]. Sub-total and near-total thyroidectomies were the leading types of thyroid surgery in the block group and non-block group respectively. The length of incision was 9.2 ± 2.8 vs 9.1 ± 2.1 in the block group and non-block group respectively and no statistically significant difference between the groups. Simple nodular goiter was the most frequent (22; 59.4%) diagnosis in the block group and multi-nodular goiter in the non-block group (16; 43.2%). Only 4 patients (1 in the block group and 3 in the non-block group) had undergone extended neck dissection. The use of preemptive analgesia with simple analgesics and opioids was comparable. There was no difference in the choices of induction agents. Large proportions of patients in both groups were induced with propofol (block group = 75.7% vs non-block group = 67.6%, p > 0.05) and the remaining with thiopentone. Patterns of pain and analgesic requirements At all endpoints, pain scores were significantly lower in the block group. Furthermore, the first analgesic request time was significantly longer in the block group than the non-block group [Table 2]. Total analgesic consumption in the first 24 postoperative hours was significantly reduced in the group that received BSCPB. Surprisingly, none of the patients in the block group required strong opioid analgesics. However, 24 hours of pethidine consumption was 34 ± 15.1 mg in the non-block group [Table 3].