Erector spinae plane block (ESPB) has been used for many thoracic and abdominal surgeries. However, evidence of its analgesic efficacy following abdominal surgery, compared with that of thoracic analgesia, is insufficient. Our study explored the analgesic effect of ESPB after abdominal surgery.

We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Primary outcomes were pain scores at 6, 12 and 24 h and 24-h opioid consumption. Secondary outcomes included time to first rescue analgesia, length of hospital stay, and incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). We calculated standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for primary outcomes and mean differences (MDs) and risk ratios (RRs) with 95% CIs for secondary outcomes.

We systematically included 1,502 cases in 24 trials. Compared with placebo, ESPB significantly reduced pain scores at 6 h (SMD −1.25; 95% CI −1.79 to −0.71), 12 h (SMD −0.85; 95% CI −1.33 to −0.37) and 24 h (SMD −0.84; 95% CI −1.30 to −0.37) and 24-h opioid consumption (SMD −0.62; 95% CI −1.19 to −0.06) post-surgery. ESPB prolonged the time to first rescue analgesia and decreased the incidence of PONV. Compared with transversus abdominal plane block (TAPB), ESPB significantly reduced pain scores at 6, 12, and 24 h and 24-h opioid consumption and prolonged the time to first rescue analgesia postsurgically. Furthermore, subgroup analysis showed that ESPB significantly reduced pain scores at various time points and opioid consumption within 24 h after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy and bariatric surgery.

Compared with placebo, ESPB improves the postoperative analgesic efficacy after abdominal surgery. Furthermore, our meta-analysis confirmed that ESPB provides more beneficial analgesic efficacy than TAPB.

[https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPEROFILES/301491_STRATEGY_20220104.pdf], identifier [CRD42022301491].