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BACKGROUND:

Pectoralis and serratus blocks have been described recently for use in breast surgery, but evidence supporting their analgesic benefits is limited. This cohort study evaluates the benefits of adding a pectoralis or serratus block to conventional opioid-based analgesia (control) in patients who underwent ambulatory breast cancer surgery at Women’s College Hospital between July 2013 and May 2015. We tested the joint hypothesis that adding a pectoralis or serratus block reduced postoperative in-hospital (predischarge) opioid consumption and nausea and vomiting (PONV). We also examined the 2 block types for noninferiority.

METHODS:

A total of 225 patients were propensity matched on 5 potential confounders among 3 study groups (75 per group):(1) pectoralis;(2) serratus; and (3) control. The propensity-matched cohort was used to evaluate the effect of the study group on postoperative in …