The Efficacy of Ultrasound-Guided Rhomboid Intercostal Block for Pain Management Following Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery

Following Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery Video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has recently been evaluated as the standard surgical procedure for lung surgery. The advantages of VATS prodecures compared with open thoracotomy are rapid recovery, short hospital stay and low complication risk. Although VATS is less painful than thoracotomy, patients may feel severe pain during the first hours at postoperative period. Analgesia management is very important for these patients in postoperative period since insufficient analgesia can cause pulmonary complications such as atelectasis, pneumonia and increased oxygen consumption.

Rhomboid intercostal block (RIB) is a novel block and was first described by Elsharkawy et al. Local anesthetic solution is administrated between the rhomboid muscle and intercostal muscles over the T5-6 ribs 2-3 cm medially of the medial border of the scapula. RIB targets both the posterior rami and lateral cutaneous branches of the thoracic nerves and provides analgesia for the hemithorax from T2 to T9. It has been reported that RIB may provide effective analgesia management for several surgeries like thoracotomy.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy US-guided Rhomboid intercostal block compared to no intervention control group for postoperative analgesia management after VATS. The primary aim is to compare postoperative opioid consumption and the secondary aim is to evaluate postoperative pain scores (VAS), adverse effects related with opioids (allergic reaction, nausea, vomiting) and complications due to block (pneumothorax, hematoma etc).