Laparoscopic-guided distal loco-regional anesthetic infiltration technique in TAPP inguinal hernia repair: a double-blind randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND

Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block (US-TAP) is an important component of multimodal analgesia in laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair, although it has certain limitations. To overcome them, surgeons have developed several techniques to perform local anesthetic infiltration under laparoscopic guidance, but no trials evaluating these in transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) hernia repair were conducted till the date. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of a novel laparoscopic-guided local anesthetic infiltration technique (LDAI) with US-TAP in postoperative pain control and analgesic consumption for patients undergoing elective TAPP hernia repair.

METHODS

This was a double-blind randomized controlled trial conducted at a single tertiary academic center between 2019 and 2020 on adult patients undergoing elective laparoscopic TAPP inguinal hernia repair. Postoperative pain and analgesic consumption were compared for LDAI vs. US-TAP up to 30 postoperative days.

RESULTS

62 patients were included (31 LDAI, 31 US-TAP). Female gender was significantly higher in the LDAI group (8, 25.81%; US-TAP 0; p = 0.005). Mean anesthetic time (US-TAP group: 142.2 min, SD = 17.7; LDAI group: 127.1 min, SD = 15.5; p < 0.001) and mean operative time (US-TAP group: 117.2 min, SD = 15.9; LDAI group: 103.8 min, SD = 15.2; p < 0.001) were significantly shorter in the LDAI group. Pain scores assessed at the first-hour postoperative, at the moment of discharge, and at 8, 24, and 48 postoperative hours showed no significant differences between both groups. No significant difference was found regarding postoperative analgesic rescue administration in the recovery room and analgesic consumption after discharge between groups.

CONCLUSION

LDAI is a safe and effective local anesthetic technique in elective TAPP hernia repair. Pain control is similar to US-TAP block, with shorter anesthesthetic and surgical time and better health resources allocation.