Rectus sheath block and emergency midline laparotomy at a hospital in Ethiopia: A prospective observational study

BACKGROUND: Midline laparotomy is associated with severe postoperative pain. Literature showed controversial results regarding the efficacy of the rectus sheath block. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study that recruits 30 patients in the rectus sheath block (RSB) group and 30 patients in the multimodal analgesia (MMA) group who underwent emergency midline laparotomy. The RSB was performed by an experienced anesthetist using a land-mark technique. Independent t-test and Mann-Whitney-U test were used for numeric data while Chi-Square or Fisher exact test was used for categorical variables. P-values < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: The numeric rating scale score at the recovery was significantly reduced in an RSB group with a p-value of 0.039. Postoperative numeric rating scale scores at 3rd, 6th, 12th, and 24th hours were statistically significantly lower in the RSB group. Postoperative tramadol consumption in 24 h was significantly lower with a p-value of 0.0001 for the rectus sheath group. CONCLUSIONS: For midline laparotomy, adding a bilateral rectus sheath block at the end of the operation might be an effective postoperative analgesia option.