Trial reportJournal of anesthesia2025
Analgesic efficacy and serum ropivacaine concentration of postoperative programmed intermittent bolus infusion with serratus anterior plane block in patients undergoing minimally invasive cardiac surgery: A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of anesthesia, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of serratus anterior plane block versus fentanyl for postoperative pain control and stress response after minimally invasive cardiac surgery: Randomised controlled study.Bioinformation · 2026Article
- Brachial Plexus Block Following Serratus Anterior Plane Block After Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery Identified Using Contrast X-Ray: A Case Report.Case reports in anesthesiology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeMinimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) involves fewer complications than median sternotomy. However, difficulties in post-MICS analgesia can undermine these advantages. The serratus anterior plane block (SAPB), an effective analgesic for thoracic surgery, could benefit post-MICS analgesia using programmed intermittent bolus infusion (PIBI). We investigated whether PIBI with SAPB can reduce post-MICS fentanyl administration and evaluated its safety profile.
methodsThis randomized, double-blind, controlled trial included 20 patients (age 20-80 years; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status 0-II; scheduled for elective MICS) randomly allocated to two groups (SAPB or control). All patients underwent preoperative SAPB with catheterization, followed by either 20 mL 0.25% ropivacaine or saline bolus every 6 h postoperatively. All patients received intravenous fentanyl via patient-controlled analgesia. Blood samples were collected 10, 20, 30, and 60 min after preoperative ropivacaine infusion; during and after cardiopulmonary bypass; and on postoperative days 1-5. The primary outcome was cumulative fentanyl consumption up to postoperative day 5. Secondary outcomes included numerical rating scale scores, rehabilitation preoperatively and postoperatively, postoperative nausea and vomiting, ropivacaine toxicity, and PIBI with SAPB complications.
resultsAfter excluding three patients, data from 17 patients were analyzed. No significant difference in cumulative fentanyl consumption on postoperative day 5 was observed (SAPB: median [interquartile range], 512 µg [457-753] vs. control: 654 µg [439-982], P = 0.96). Serum ropivacaine concentration remained below the toxicity threshold.
conclusionPIBI with SAPB did not reduce post-MICS fentanyl consumption, and serum ropivacaine concentration did not reach the toxicity threshold.
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