Randomized Controlled Trial of Bilateral Intrapleural Block in Cardiac Surgery Publisher Pubmed



Mansouri M^{1, 3} ; Bageri K¹ ; Noormohammadi E² ; Mirmohammadsadegi M² ; Mirdehgan A² ; Ahangaran AG¹
Source: Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals Published:2011

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of bilateral intrapleural block with bupivacaine as a preemptive analgesic for postoperative pain in coronary artery bypass graft surgery. In a double-blind prospective clinical trial, 70 patients were randomly divided into a bupivacaine group (20 mL bupivacaine 0.25% and 0.5 mL adrenaline 1/200,000 each side) and a control group (20.5 mL normal saline each side). Evaluation of the severity of pain was performed using the visual analog scale at 12 and 24 h after entering the intensive care unit and again during chest tube removal. Pain scores at 12 and 24h after intensive care unit admission were significantly lower in the bupivacaine group. There were no sideeffects related to intrapleural block, such as pneumothorax or emphysema. In coronary artery bypass graft candidates, preemptive analgesia with bilateral intrapleural block using bupivacaine provided relatively less painful conditions during the first 24 h after surgery, but it did not improve the clinical outcome. © The Author(s) 2011.