ArticleAnnals of medicine and surgery (2012)2026
Efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block in preventing chronic postsurgical pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Annals of medicine and surgery (2012), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The prevalence of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) ranges from 10% to 50%, varying by surgical procedure. With over 300 million surgeries performed annually worldwide, the prevention and management of CPSP represent a significant clinical challenge. Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in reducing the prevalence of CPSP among adults undergoing abdominal surgery. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, ChinaInfo, and CNKI from their inception to July 2025. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the TAP block with no block or placebo in adults (≥18 years) undergoing abdominal surgery. The Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2) was used to assess the risk of bias, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework was used to evaluate the certainty of the evidence. Results: Our systematic search and rigorous screening process identified eight RCTs involving 630 patients for this meta-analysis. During full-text review, 35 of 43 articles were excluded for specific ineligibility reasons. Low to moderate quality evidence showed that the TAP block significantly reduced the prevalence of CPSP at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively compared to no TAP block [risk ratio (RR) 0.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.39-0.97, Conclusions: Based on low to moderate certainty evidence, which is limited by significant heterogeneity, the TAP block for abdominal surgery may reduce the prevalence of CPSP. This potential benefit appears more pronounced with preoperative administration. However, these findings warrant cautious interpretation. Future large-scale, multicenter RCTs designating CPSP as a primary outcome are necessary to provide more definitive evidence.
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