A Randomized Comparative Study Between Ultrasound Guided Erector Spinae Plane Block and Ultrasound Guided Iliohypogastric/ Ilioinguinal Nerve Block for Postoperative Pain Relief in Female Patients Undergoing Open Hysterectomy

The use of ultrasound for the placement of peripheral nerve blocks has received a great deal of attention in anesthesiology literature as well as clinical practice. Advantages of ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia include easy learning, fast onset, higher success rates, more complete blocks, using lower local anesthetic volumes and more safety. Good postoperative analgesia can prevent morbidity associated with abdominal hysterectomy by allowing pain-free, early ambulation and decreasing the risks of long hospital stay such as thrombo-embolism, and other poor outcomes. Truncal blocks such as transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks have seen limited success due to shorter duration and sub-optimal analgesia. The ultrasound (US)-guided erector spinae plane block (ESPB) w gained wide attention as a fast procedure that carries a lower risk of hypotension, can be used in patients with coagulopathy, is easy to perform, and requires less training. It provides extensive, potent unilateral analgesia, is performed by local anesthetic injection in the plane between the erector spinae muscle and the Transverse process of the corresponding vertebra. The local anesthetic diffuses into the para vertebral space through spaces between adjacent vertebrae and blocks both the dorsal and ventral branches of the thoracic spinal nerves. Bilateral ESPB performed at low thoracic levels was recently shown to provide satisfactory analgesia for gynecologic and abdominal surgery.

Abdominal field blocks, such as the ilio-inguinal / ilio-hypogastric (IL-IH) nerve block are well- known as simple ways to give long-lasting pain relief and limit narcotic usage after surgery.

The ilio-inguinal and ilio-hypogastric nerves are T 12 and L 1 branches that supply the inguinal region and run between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles, slightly above the anterior superior iliac spine.

The aim of this study is to compare the analgesic effect of ilio-hypogastric / ilio-inguinal versus erector spine plane block on female patients undergoing open hysterectomy.