Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32900720›Full record

ArticleBMJ case reports2020

Erector spinae catheter for post-thoracotomy pain control in a premature neonate.

Anna Swenson Schalkwyk, James Flaherty, Donavon Hess, Balazs Horvath

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readCase Reports
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ case reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04878341 (Erector Spinae Plane Block), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04878341 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Erector Spinae Plane Block (ESP) Versus Thoracic Epidural Anesthesia in Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) in Pediatric Population; a Randomized, Controlled Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorVittore Buzzi Children's HospitalRan2021 to 2023Enrolled74ConditionsPain, PostoperativeArmsErector Spinae Plane Block
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Neonatal Pain Management: Is There An Endocrinal Response?Endocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2025
    Review
  2. Erector spinae plane block in children: a narrative review.Korean journal of anesthesiology · 2022
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Anna Swenson SchalkwykAnesthesiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
James FlahertyAnesthesiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Donavon HessDepartment of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Balazs HorvathAnesthesiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA bhorvath@umn.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1566-6564
University of Minnesota · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ensuring respiratory stability with early tracheal extubation and adequate pain control is challenging in premature neonates after thoracotomy. Continuous erector spinae plane (ESP) block, a relatively new truncal nerve block, has the potential to provide analgesia for thoracic surgeries while reducing opioid use. However, there have been only a few reports utilising this technique in infants, and none in preterm neonates. We present the perioperative pain management of a preterm neonate requiring thoracotomy. Epidural analgesia was deemed contraindicated due to coexisting coagulopathy; therefore, an ESP catheter was placed. The patient was extubated at the end of the surgery and had excellent pain control with rectal acetaminophen, chloroprocaine infusion via the ESP catheter and with minimal opioid requirement. Continuous ESP block may be safe and effective for postoperative pain management in coagulopathic premature neonates. Chloroprocaine is an effective local anaesthetic in the erector spinae compartment, which has not been previously reported.

Indexed as

CatheterizationNerve BlockParaspinal MusclesThoracotomyAnesthetics, LocalFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornInfant, PrematurePostoperative PainProcaineAnesthetics, LocalchloroprocaineProcainedrug therapy related to surgeryneonatal and paediatric intensive carepaediatric surgerypain

Identifiers

PMID32900720
PMCPMC7478038
OpenAlexW3083931681

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.