Multiple-injection thoracic paravertebral block as an alternative to general anaesthesia for elective breast surgeries: A randomised controlled trial.
BACKGROUND
General anaesthesia is currently the conventional technique used for surgical treatment of breast lump. Paravertebral block (PVB) has been used for unilateral procedures such as thoracotomy, breast surgery, chest wall trauma, hernia repair or renal surgery.


METHODS
We compared unilateral thoracic PVB with general anaesthesia (GA) in 60 consenting ASA physical status I and II female patients of 18-65 years age, scheduled for unilateral breast surgery. Patients were randomly assigned into two groups, P (n=30) or G (n=30), to receive either PVB or GA, respectively.


RESULTS
The average time to first post-operative analgesic requirement at visual analogue scale score≥4 (primary endpoint) was significantly longer in group P (303.97±76.08 min) than in group G (131.33±21.36 min), P<0.001. Total rescue analgesic (Inj. Tramadol) requirements in the first 24 h were 105.17±20.46 mg in group P as compared with 176.67±52.08 mg in group G (P<0.001). Significant post-operative nausea and vomiting requiring treatment occurred in three (10.34%) patients of the PVB group and eight (26.67%) patients in the GA group.


CONCLUSION
The present study concludes that unilateral PVB is more efficacious in terms of prolonging post-operative analgesia and reducing morbidities in patients undergoing elective unilateral breast surgery.
['Das|Sabyasachi|S|', 'Bhattacharya|Pradipta|P|', 'Mandal|Mohan Chandra|MC|', 'Mukhopadhyay|Soma|S|', 'Basu|Sekhar Ranjan|SR|', 'Mandol|Bikas Kusum|BK|']
general anaesthesia Unilateral breast surgery post-operative analgesia anaesthetic technique multiple-injection technique unilateral thoracic paravertebral block