Postoperative Efficacy of Subcostal TAP Block in Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Since long time opioid have been used to control postoperative pain in bariatric surgery However, an increasing awareness of opioid-related adverse events, including respiratory depression, paralytic ileums, and sedation, constipation has led to a shift towards utilizing opioid-sparing techniques for postoperative analgesia As neuroaxial block and ultrasound guided nerve blocks

As the transverse abdominis plane (TAP) block which is of increasing interest nowadays (Basaran B, et al 2015)

The ultrasound-guided oblique SCTAP block, first described by Hebbard et al., has the potential to provide analgesia for both upper and lower abdominal surgery. There is a growing consensus that the SCTAP block provides better analgesia for upper abdominal incisions

The TAP block via various approaches provides some advantages over neuraxial anesthesia (Ganapathy Set al 2015). For example, TAP blocks are associated with a lower use of intraoperative phenylephrine and a lesser degree of intraoperative blood pressure changes. The SCTAP block may be utilized in cases in which neuraxial anesthesia is contraindicated, such as patients with coagulation issues or infection at the epidural puncture site. Although the SCTAP block provides sensory blockade of the abdominal wall, it is lacking in coverage of visceral pain (Lissauer J,et al 2014).

The lack of visceral pain analgesia may require the use of additional methods of postoperative pain control such as intravenous opioids or non-narcotic analgesics.