Effect of Ropivacaine Intercostal Nerve Block Combined with Patient Controlled Intravenous Analgesia on Postoperative Analgesia after Breast Augmentation.

backgroundsTo observe the effect of ropivacaine intercostal nerve block combined with PCIA as early postoperative analgesia following breast augmentation surgery with prosthesis (axillary approach)

methodsA total of 80 women with breast augmentation surgery were selected in the plastic surgery department of Chongqing Huamei Plastic Surgery Hospital from December 2021 to May 2022. They were equally randomized into control group and observation group, with 40 cases in each one. Before placing the prosthesis, the control group was given 0.9% normal saline for intercostal nerve block; the observation group was given 0.75% ropivacaine + 1‰ adrenaline for intercostal nerve block. Patient controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) was used after operation. Observation indexes the visual analog scale (VAS) of resting and motor state at 4 h, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h after operation and the adverse reactions.

resultsThe VAS scores of patients at rest and exercise and adverse reactions in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05).

conclusionRopivacaine intercostal nerve block combined with PCIA can effectively alleviate the pain after breast augmentation with pectoralis major prosthesis through axillary incision, help patients more comfortably through the perioperative period, accelerate postoperative recovery, reduce the dosage of systemic opioids and effectively reduce side effects. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE II: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .