The Role of Paravertebral Blocks in Ambulatory Surgery: Review of the Literature

Abstract

SUMMARYAmbulatory surgery often involves surgical procedures on the thorax, abdomen and limbs, which can be associated with substantial postoperative pain. The aim of this narrative review is to provide an analysis of the effectiveness of paravertebral block (PVB) alone or in combination with general anaesthesia, in this setting, with an emphasis on satisfactory postoperative analgesia in comparison to other modalities. We have conducted a search of current medical literature written in English through PubMed, Google Scholar and Ovid Medline®. Peer-reviewed professional articles, review articles, retrospective and prospective studies, case reports and case series were systematically searched for during the time period between November 2003 and February 2019. The literature used for the purpose of creating this review showed that utilisation of paravertebral block either alone or in combination with general anaesthesia, has a positive effect on satisfactory analgesia in ambulatory surgery. With a multimodal analgesic approach of PVB and other techniques of anaesthesia and analgesia there is a reduction in postoperative opioid consumption, fewer side effects, lower pain scores, decreased mortality, earlier mobilisation of patients and reduced hospital stay.

Ultrasound‐guided peripheral trunk block technique: A new approach gradually stepping onto the stage of clinical anesthesia

“…PVB is characterized as injecting local anesthetics into space on both sides of the spine. Hugo Sellheim, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Leipzig University in Germany in 1905, was first described this method and was used for analgesia in abdominal surgery (Župčić, 2019). After entering the 21st century, with the ultrasound development, this “ancient” technique has regained its rebirth and has a significant trend to replace epidural analgesia, especially in thoracic postoperative analgesia.Paravertebral space (PVS) is a wedge‐shaped region bounded by the vertebral body, intervertebral disc, and intervertebral foramen.…”