Unilateral versus bilateral ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane blocks during ureteric shock wave lithotripsy: A prospective randomized trial

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been used for intra- and post-operative analgesia during abdominal operations and for ureteric shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) as well. AIM: This study aimed at comparing ultrasound-guided unilateral versus bilateral TAP blocks as analgesic techniques for unilateral ureteric SWL. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Prospective randomized comparative study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty patients scheduled for unilateral ureteric SWL were randomly allocated into two groups: Group (U) received unilateral TAP block in the form of 25 ml of bupivacaine 0.25% (i.e., 62.5 mg), and Group (B) received bilateral TAP blocks in the form of 25 ml of bupivacaine 0.25% (i.e., 62.5 mg) on each side. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: This was performed using SPSS program version 19 ((IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and EP 16 program. RESULTS: The mean values of intra- and post-procedural visual analog scale at different time intervals were around (30), which was statistically insignificant between groups (P > 0.05). There were no significant differences between groups regarding cardiopulmonary stability, postanesthesia care unit time, the total amount of rescue fentanyl and patient satisfaction scores (P > 0.05). There were no significant side effects in both groups. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-guided unilateral TAP block is as safe and effective analgesic technique as bilateral TAP blocks during unilateral ureteric SWL. It can be used as the sole analgesic technique during ureteric SWL.