Comparison of Modified Perichondral Approach Thoracoabdominal Nerve Block and Transversus Abdominal Plane Block in Analgesia Management Following Caesarean Section Surgery

Cesarean section (CS) is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the World. In European countries, approximately 20% of deliveries are done by cesarean section. Moderate to severe postoperative pain occurs in a significant proportion of women after cesarean surgery. This delays recovery and returning to daily life. Postoperative pain disrupts the mother-child bond, makes breastfeeding difficult, and affects the psychological state of the mother.

Postoperative pain is an acute pain accompanied by the inflammatory process that occurs due to surgical trauma. Also inadequate postoperative analgesia may cause hyperalgesia and chronic pain. Perioperative pain should be managed with a multi-modal approach. Opioids and nonsteroid anti inflammatory drugs should be considered as components of a multimodal analgesic regimen. However, use of both systemic and neuraxial opioids may be associated with effects (respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting, sedation, pruritus, hyperalgesia). For this, interfacial blocks may be preffered to provide postoperative analgesia and reduced opioid consumption.

Regional analgesia techniques are performed as an important part of multimodal analgesia. US-guided Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is one of the regional analgesia techniques that can be performed preoperatively or postoperatively. TAP block has been shown to reduce postoperative pain after hysterectomy, inguinal hernia repair, cesarean section, and colorectal surgery.

Modified Perichondral Approach Thoracoabdominal Nerve (M-TAPA) block performed with ultrasound (US) is a novel technique that provides effective analgesia in the anterior and lateral thoracoabdominal areas, where local anesthetic is performed only to the lower side of the perichondral surface. M-TAPA block is a good alternative for analgesia of the upper dermatome levels and the abdominal lateral Wall, provides analgesia in the abdominal area at the T5-T11 level. In the literature, there are studies investigating the effectiveness of M-TAPA block for post-operative pain management in bariatric surgery.

The analgesic effectiveness of TAP block has been demonstrated after cesarean section operations. m-TAPA block has been described as an alternative analgesic technique in abdominal surgeries. The aim of this study is to compare these two analgesic methods in terms of effectiveness for postoperative analgesia management after cesarean section. The primary outcome is to compare global recovery scores, the secondary outcome is to compare postoperative pain scores (NRS), to evaluate postoperative rescue analgesic (opioid) use and side effects (allergic reaction, nausea, vomiting) associated with opioid use in this study.