Bilateral Paravertebral Blockade (T7-10) Versus Incisional Local Anesthetic Administration for Pediatric Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Prospective, Randomized Clinical Study.

Background: Single-injection paravertebral nerve blocks (PVBs) provide effective postoperative analgesia after adult laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). We sought to compare PVBs with local anesthetic injections at laparoscopic port sites in a pediatric population.

Methods: Eighty-three patients (8-17 years old) scheduled for LC were randomized prospectively to 2 treatment groups: the PVB group received ropivacaine 0.5% injected in the paravertebral space and normal saline injections at laparoscopic instrument sites, and the port infiltration group received normal saline in the paravertebral space and ropivacaine 0.5% at instrument sites. Postoperative analgesia was provided with hydromorphone via patient-controlled analgesia for up to 12 hours, followed by oxycodone and hydromorphone. The total amount of analgesic, serial visual analog scale scores for pain and subject pain control satisfaction, type and characteristics of pain, and complications were recorded for 24 hours.

Results: The intraoperative fentanyl requirement (ng/kg/min) was lower in the PVB group than in the port infiltration group (12.81 vs 16.57, P = 0.007). Total postoperative analgesic consumption and mean visual analog scale scores were not different between the groups. Baseline pain recorded before surgery correlated with self-reported postoperative pain scores only in the port infiltration group. The rate of complications was low and similar between groups. There was no difference in incidence of patient-reported incisional, visceral, or gas pain. Shoulder pain, however, was 49% less (95% confidence interval, 0.269-0.893) in the port infiltration group.

Conclusions: PVBs did not reduce postoperative pain associated with pediatric LC but decreased intraoperative fentanyl requirements.