Pain management after pneumothorax surgery: intercostal nerve block or thoracic epidural analgesia.

Objectives: In patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for pneumothorax, the benefits and risks of single-shot intercostal nerve block as loco-regional analgesia are not well known. We retrospectively compared the effectiveness of intercostal nerve blocks as a viable alternative to thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) regarding pain control and enhanced recovery.

Methods: A retrospective multicentre analysis with single-centre propensity score matching was performed in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for pneumothorax receiving either TEA or intercostal nerve block.