[Efficacy of Transversus Abdominis and Rectus Sheath Blocks in Combination with Continuous Intravenous Fentanyl for Postoperative Analgesia of Laparoscopic Colectomy: A Retrospective Study].

The ethics committee of our institute ap- proved the study. In our hospital, postoperative analge- sia is performed with continuous intravenous fentanyl administration at three concentrations : 12.5, 18.75, and 31.25 μg · hr⁻¹. TAP and RS blocks were applied using 30-40 ml of 0.19-0.25% ropivacaine. We selected 43 patients who underwent laparoscopic colectomy from May to October 2015. We compared the fentanyl only group (F group, n=26) and block combination group (F+B group, n=17). Statistical analysis was performed with the Mann-Whitney U test P<0.05 was considered significant Results : Patient characteristics including age, height, body weight, duration of anesthesia, and surgery did not significantly differ between the two groups. The concentration of intravenous fentanyl was significantly lower in the F+B group than in the F group (F group : 19.5±8.4μg · hr⁻¹, F+B group : 14.7?4.9 μg · hr⁻¹, P=0.02). In the present study, TAP and RS blocks significantly reduced the dose of administered fentanyl. - Conclusions : Our findings suggest that a combina- tion of TAP and RS blocks lower the dose of continu- ous intravenous fentanyl needed, and may provide better postoperative analgesia after laparoscopic colec- tomy.