European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Pain and duration of convalescence are the two substantial concerns after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.  Subcostal transversus abdominis plane (STAP) block is a newer block which produces reliable supraumbilical analgesia.  Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of Subcostal transverse abdominis plane(STAP) block in reducing postoperative pain and opioid consumption. Materials and Method: Eighty patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly allocated to receive either USG guided STAP block (n=40) with 0.25% Ropivacaine or standard postoperative analgesia (n=40) with Tramadol. All the patients were assessed for post operative pain and rescue analgesia consumption at regular intervals for first 24 hours.  Results: VAS score was significantly higher in control group as compared to the study group at all the time. Total dose of TRAMADOL consumption in study group was 107.5± 61.55 mg and in control group was 225±66.96 mg, which was statistically significant. First dose of rescue analgesia required in study group was at 426.66 ± 331.36 min and in control group was 130.5 ±  240.6min which was statistically significant.  Conclusion: STAP block is a promising modality for pain management when used as apart of multimodal analgesia.