Ultrasound-guided bilateral superficial cervical plexus block is more effective than landmark technique for reducing pain from thyroidectomy

Abstract

Purpose

Thyroidectomy causes postoperative pain and patient discomfort. Bilateral superficial cervical plexus block is a regional anesthesia technique that can provide analgesia during and after surgery. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of ultrasound (US)-guided versus landmark (LM) technique for bilateral superficial cervical plexus block in thyroidectomy.

Patients and methods

Thirty-six patients undergoing thyroidectomy were divided into two groups randomly (n=18); either US-guided (US group) or LM technique (LM group) for bilateral superficial cervical plexus block. Patient-controlled analgesia was used to control postoperative pain. Intraoperative opioid rescue, postoperative visual analog scale (VAS) score and opioid consumption were measured.

Results

The number of patients who required intraoperative opioid rescue was significantly lower in the US group (p≤0.05). There was no significant difference in postoperative VAS score at 3 hours (p>0.05), but postoperative VAS score at 6 and 24 hours was significantly lower in the US group (p≤0.05). Twenty-four hour postoperative opioid consumption was significantly lower in the US group (p≤0.05).

Conclusion

Ultrasound-guided bilateral superficial cervical plexus block is more effective in reducing pain both intra- and postoperatively compared with landmark technique in patients undergoing thyroidectomy.

Keywords:

• peripheral nerve block
• superficial cervical plexus block
• ultrasound-guided
• pain
• thyroidectomy

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.