Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39788818›Full record

Trial reportBritish journal of anaesthesia2025

Spread of local anaesthetic after erector spinae plane block: a randomised, three-dimensional reconstruction, imaging study.

Tao Shan, Xiaodan Zhang, Zhenyu Zhao, Xiao Zhou, Hongguang Bao, Chuan Su, Qilian Tan, Liu Han, Jun Yin

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in British journal of anaesthesia, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06142630 (The Effects of Different Positions on the Diffusion and Blockade Effect of Ultrasound-guided Erector Spinae Plane Block), which is not on this map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT06142630 nacompletednot on this map

The Effects of Different Positions on the Diffusion and Blockade Effect of Ultrasound-guided Erector Spinae Plane Block

TypeinterventionalSponsorNanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical UniversityRan2023 to 2024Enrolled84ConditionsErector Spinea Plane BlockArmsAlteration of patients' position after erector spinae plane block
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  12. Erector spinae plane block.BJA education · 2026
    Review
  13. Fascial plane blocks in pediatric patients.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2026
    Review
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  16. Review
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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

9 authors.

Tao ShanDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Xiaodan ZhangDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Zhenyu ZhaoDepartment of Nuclear-Medicine, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Xiao ZhouDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Hongguang BaoDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: hongguangbao@hotmail.com.
Chuan SuCenter for Global Health, Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, State Key Lab of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: chuansu@njmu.edu.cn.
Qilian TanDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Liu HanDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Jun YinDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSpread of local anaesthetic solution in the paravertebral space after erector spinae plane block (ESPB) is variable. We evaluated whether paravertebral spread of local anaesthetic is affected by patient position after ESPB.

methodsWe randomised 84 patients to receive ESPB at T

resultsLocal anaesthetic-contrast mix reached the paravertebral space, intercostal space, and neural foramina in 96.5%, 94.2%, and 77.9% of individuals, respectively. Epidural space spread occurred in 20 cases. Prone positioning consistently allowed paravertebral and intercostal spread in all patients, with more thoracic level spread compared with supine positioning (5.0 [1.9] vs 3.1 [1.7], difference [95% confidence interval, CI]: 1.9 [0.8-3.0] levels, P<0.001 for paravertebral space spread; 2.8 [1.9] vs 1.4 [1.4], difference [95% CI] levels: 1.4 [0.4-2.5], P=0.004 for neural foramina spread; 4.3 [1.3] vs 3.2 [1.5], difference [95% CI] levels: 1.0 [0.1-1.9], P=0.019 for intercostal space spread). Local anaesthetic-contrast extended to the intercostal space further in the prone than in the lateral position group (4.3 [1.3] vs 2.6 [1.5] thoracic levels, difference [95% CI]: 1.7 [0.8-2.6], P<0.001). Sensory block in ventral dermatomes was variable in all participants.

conclusionsProne positioning after ESPB significantly enhanced local anaesthetic-contrast spread to the paravertebral space, intercostal space, and neural foramina, suggesting that gravity plays a substantial role in spread. CLINICAL

trial registrationClinical Trials.gov (NCT06142630).

Indexed as

Anesthetics, LocalNerve BlockAdultAgedEpidural SpaceFemaleHumansImaging, Three-DimensionalMaleMiddle AgedParaspinal MusclesPatient PositioningRopivacaineTomography, X-Ray ComputedAnesthetics, LocalRopivacainecomputed tomographyerector spinae plane blocklocal anaesthetic spreadpatient positionregional anaesthesiathree-dimensional imaging

Identifiers

PMID39788818
PMCPMC11867096

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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.