Comparison of Multimodal Cocktail to Ropivacaine Intercostal Nerve Block for Chest Pain After Costal Cartilage Harvest: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

To compare the effectiveness of an intercostal nerve block after costal cartilage harvest when a multimodal cocktail or ropivacaine plus patient-controlled analgesia is used, as measured by visual analog scale (VAS) scores, rescue analgesic consumption, and related complications. Eligible patients who underwent costal cartilage harvest were equally randomized to receive a multimodal cocktail (multimodal group) or ropivacaine plus patient-controlled analgesia (ropivacaine group). Of 112 patients assessed, 12 (10.7%) patients were excluded and 100 (89.3%) patients were enrolled and assigned to multimodal group ( = 50) and ropivacaine group ( = 50). The VAS scores in the multimodal group were significantly lower than those in the ropivacaine group both at rest (0.924 ± 0.073 vs. 1.920 ± 0.073,  < 0.001) and during coughing (2.340 ± 0.083 vs. 3.944 ± 0.083, < 0.001) in mixed-effects model analysis. Rescue analgesic consumption and rate of complications were significantly lower in the multimodal group compared with the ropivacaine group (all  < 0.05). Multimodal cocktail improved chest pain after costal cartilage harvest with less rescue analgesic consumption and complications compared with ropivacaine plus patient-controlled analgesia. ChiCTR2100042445.