Opioid-free Anesthesia With ESPB in VATS Operation

Group 1 (opioid-free ESPB) Before induction of anesthesia, patients in this group will undergo ultrasound guidance in a sitting position on the operating table, and an erector spina plan block will be performed with bupivacaine and lidocaine, by entering unilaterally (to the side to be operated) 3 cm lateral to the T5 spinous process. Under standard monitoring (ECG, non-invasive blood pressure, and finger oxygen saturation), anesthesia induction will be performed with propofol (2 mg/kg), ketamine 2 mg/kg, and rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg. Bispectral index (BIS) and analgesia nociception index (ANI) monitoring will be started immediately after intubation. Patients will not take any opioids throughout the surgery and will be infused with dexmedetomidine instead. Dexmedetomidine infusion will be started at a dose of 0.4 microgram/kg/hour, BIS < 50 and the dose of dexmedetomidine will be adjusted so that ANI > 50. Patients for whom dexmedetomidine could not be sufficiently effective and opioid use became mandatory will not be included in the analysis. Before postoperative awakening, patients were given 1 g i.v. paracetamol will be given.

Group 2 (standard anesthesia with opioid) Under standard monitoring (ECG, non-invasive blood pressure, and finger oxygen saturation), anesthesia induction will be performed with propofol (2 mg/kg), remifentanil 1 microgram/kg, and rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg. Bispectral index (BIS) and analgesia nociception index (ANI) monitoring will be started immediately after intubation. Patients will receive an infusion of remifentanil throughout the surgery. Remifentanil infusion will be started at a dose of 0.5 microgram/kg/hour, and the dose of remifentanil will be adjusted so that BIS < 50 and ANI > 50. Before postoperative awakening, patients were given 1 g i.v. paracetamol will be given.

Perioperative clinical and demographic data of each patient will be collected: age, gender, diagnosis, operation, ASA status, duration of surgery, duration of anesthesia. Intraoperatively, heart rate, blood pressure, ANI and BIS measurements will be made and recorded in all patients at 15-minute intervals. In addition, the total intraoperative opioid dose (Group 2) and dexmedetomidine (Group 1) dose will be recorded.

Post-awakening pain will be assessed and recorded using a visual analog scale (VAS), then patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) will be initiated, with all patients locked in 15 minutes and given 4 mg of morphine at each application by the patient. Pain assessment will be done with VAS at 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours postoperatively. In the postoperative period, the amount of morphine administered by PCA (in the first and second 24 hours) and the required additional analgesics (tramadol, paracetamol, etc.) will be recorded. Groups will be compared for primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.

Although neuropathic pain after VATS is less than the thoracotomy approach, it can still pose a significant postoperative problem. Pain management after VATS is especially important to prevent respiratory complications. However, intraoperative or postoperative excess morphine consumption will also negatively affect postoperative recovery after thoracic surgery. It has been shown that opioid-free anesthesia can reduce the need for morphine and reduce related complications.

In the ultrasound-guided erector spina plan block technique, which is a regional anesthesia technique that has been defined recently, local anesthetic is injected into the erector spina muscle and facial plane and spreads in the caudal and cranial directions. This technique has been successfully used as a postoperative analgesia or intraoperative regional anesthesia technique in areas such as thoracic surgery and trauma, breast surgery, abdominal surgery, and extremity surgery. Erector spina plane block or other block methods have been mostly used for postoperative analgesia after VATS, and they have been shown to provide effective postoperative analgesia and reduce morphine consumption. However, data on the use of ESPB or other block techniques for anesthesia during VATS are limited. Opioid-free anesthesia with the help of ESPB may help recovery by reducing total and postoperative morphine consumption.

The aim of this study is to compare opioid-free anesthesia with ultrasound-guided ESPB in patients who underwent lobectomy with VATS, with standard opioid-containing anesthesia in terms of postoperative morphine requirement, as well as intraoperative variables, postoperative pain management and postoperative recovery, and complications.