Comparison of Ultrasound-Guided M-TAPA Block and External Oblique Intercostal Block for Postoperative Analgesia Management in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Cholecystectomy is the most common of the abdominal surgical procedures performed in developed countries and is usually performed laparoscopically. Many factors play a role in the pain that develops after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and is generally considered to be visceral pain. Phrenic nerve irritation as a result of CO2 insufflation into the peritoneal cavity, abdominal distention, tissue trauma, trauma due to the removal of the gallbladder, sociocultural status, and individual factors are the factors that play a role in the emergence of this pain.

Postoperative pain is acute pain that is accompanied by an inflammatory process due to surgical trauma and gradually decreases with tissue healing. Postoperative pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a serious problem that reduces patient comfort and delays the patient's return to work after surgery. Successful postoperative analgesia, occurs in the patient due to pain; It is a known fact that it prevents many of the effects such as not being able to breathe easily and delayed mobilization.

Modified Perichondral Approach Thoracoabdominal Nerve (M-TAPA) block performed with ultrasound (US) is a new block that provides effective analgesia in the anterior and lateral abdominal walls after laparoscopic surgery in which local anesthetic is applied 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 and may be an opioid-sparing strategy with good quality recovery in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery.

M-TAPA block provides analgesia in the T5-T11 abdominal region. Sonoanatomy is easy to visualize on US and the spread of local anesthetic can be easily seen. With the cephalo-caudal spread of the local anesthetic solution, analgesia occurs in several dermatomes. In the literature, there are studies investigating the effectiveness of M-TAPA block for post-operative pain management in bariatric surgery. In the literature, there is no randomized study evaluating the effectiveness of M-TAPA block for postoperative analgesia management after laparoscopic cholecystectomy operation.

US-guided External oblique intercostal block (EOB) is a block performed by injection of local anesthetic between the external and internal oblique muscles. This block provides abdominal analgesia between T6-T10 levels. There are studies in the literature showing that it provides effective analgesia. However, there is no study comparing M-TAPA and EOB yet.