Trial reportHernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery2025
Do transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks improve pain after laparoscopic bilateral inguinal hernia repairs beyond the recovery unit? A randomized control trial.
Trial report in Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWhile surgeons agree that perioperative field blocks should be performed for open inguinal hernia surgery, there lacks consensus in the minimally invasive context. Prior small-scale randomized trials study pain scores only up to 24 h postoperatively. Thus, we sought to investigate the analgesic benefits of a bupivacaine transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in the first 4 postoperative days.
methodsThis is a prospective single-institution randomized control trial involving patients undergoing elective totally extraperitoneal inguinal hernia repairs, who received either a TAP block with bupivacaine 0.25% or saline placebo. Postoperatively, patients completed a pain survey (based on a 0-10 visual analog score) and an opioid/non-opioid pain medication log. Differences were detected using a Wilcoxon rank sum test for continuous variables, and a Fisher's exact test or chi-squared for categorical variables.
resultsA total n = 90 patients were included in the per-protocol analysis, of which n = 46 received TAP blocks with bupivacaine versus n = 44 placebo. Patient characteristics were similar between the groups, including recurrent hernias and number of tacks placed (p > 0.05). All cases were bilateral. Postoperatively, pain scores (at rest and with movement) and pain medication use were similar for all postoperative days 1-4.
conclusionOur study shows no significant difference in pain or opioid requirement within the first 4 days postoperatively, suggesting that the analgesic benefits of plain bupivacaine TAP blocks in totally extraperitoneal inguinal hernia repairs do not exist beyond the recovery unit. This will help inform anesthesiologists and patients in discussing risks and benefits of a TAP block in their surgical context.
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