Published Paper Details:

Background: An analgesic regimen is required which meets the goal of providing safe and effective postoperative analgesia for the mother, simultaneously ensuring minimal side effects for both the mother and neonate after Caesarean section. Objective: This prospective study was undertaken to observe the Degree of postoperative pain relief via Visual Analogue Score (VAS) {time frame: 48 hours}, Duration of postoperative analgesia and Time of request for first rescue analgesia and total consumption of rescue analgesia in first 48 hours. Methods: we observed 100 patients over a period of twenty months who had received either TAP block or QL Block. The patients enrolled in the study were clinically assessed, evaluated and investigated as per the normal hospital protocol and proforma. The patients who had received TAP block were assigned group A and the patients who had received QL block were assigned group B. Group A: This group consisted of the patients who had received ultrasound guided TAP block with 20 ml of 0.2% ropivacaine. Group B: This group consisted of the patients who had received ultrasound guided QL block with 20 ml of 0.2% ropivacaine. Results: In our study, the mean duration of analgesia for Ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane block was 8.5 hours and for Quadratus Lumborum Block it was 16.5 hours. Total dose of rescue analgesia consumption was greatly reduced in QLB (group B) compared to TAPB (group A). The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). No systemic complications were reported from either of the two groups. Conclusion: From the present study it can be concluded that Ultrasound Guided nerve blocks (TAP block and QL block) can be used as a part of multimodal analgesia for better postoperative pain relief in lower abdominal surgeries like LSCS especially when given before the resolution of spinal anaesthesia. As QLB provides good quality analgesia for longer duration without side effects but proper understanding of the sono-anatomy and technical aspects of quadratuslumborum block are essential for its effective and safe use.