Abstract

Objective: To compare the post-operative pain in patients undergoing open appendectomy with and without ipsilateral transversus abdominis plane block.
Methodology: This prospective randomized controlled trial carried out in the department of Surgery, DUHS/Civil Hospital Karachi from October 2019 to April 2020. It included 60 consecutive patients of either sex divided in two equal groups with one group (n=30) randomized to transversus abdominis plane block (TAP block group). Pain was assessed with Visual Analogue Score (VAS score, 1-10) following surgery. Post stratification independent t test was applied taking p-value of ≤0.05 as significant.
Results: VAS pain score was significantly lower in all patients in TAP Block group i.e 3.89±1.19 and 4.18±0.75, respectively as compared to controlled group i.e 8.11±1.40 and 8.07±0.75, respectively (p=0.001). Length of hospital stay was reduced in TAP block group.
Conclusion: TAP block following open appendectomy was associated with decreased post-operative pain and therefore it could be utilized as an effective part of multimodal analgesic regimen.

Key words: Open appendectomy, VAS score, TAP block.