Abstract :
Introduction: Pectoral Nerve block is an interfascial plane block which provides analgesia after breast
cancer surgery while Thoracic Paravertebral block is also widely used. This study is designed to compare
the quality of analgesia after Modified Radical Mastectomy using the two techniques in terms of, the time
for the first request of rescue analgesic, 24 hrs analgesic requirement, Visual Analogue Score for pain at
rest at 1 and 6 hours postoperatively.
Results: Patients undergoing breast cancer surgeries done under general anaesthesia at Govt. Kilpauk
Medical College and Govt. Royapettah Hospital, Chennai between January 2017 and June 2017 belonging
to ASA 1 & 2 were included in this study, 30 patients in PECS group and 30 in TPB group. In TPB group,
the time for first rescue analgesia was between 141-360 minutes postoperatively (n=17, 56.67%) than in
PECS group where the time for first rescue analgesia was between 121-240 minutes postoperatively (n=27,
90.00%)(p= postoperatively (n=26, 86.67%) while in PECS group it was 300 mg tramadol postoperatively (n=13,
43.33%)(p= were 0.00 and 2.13 while VAS in PECS group at 1 hour and 6 hours were 2.00 and 4.00(p= unpaired t test)
Conclusion: Thoracic paravertebral block reduced the 24 hour analgesic consumption, reduced VAS scores
at 1 and 6 hours and prolonged the time required for the first request of analgesic compared to pectoral nerve
block after modified radical mastectomy.
Keyword :
Pectoral nerve block, Thoracic paravertebral block, Modified radical mastectomy.