Kindness pays dividends: the medical benefits of intercostal nerve block following thoracotomy.

Postoperative pain is an important factor in the management of children undergoing thoracotomy. Intercostal nerve block has been used in adult patients, but its applicability in the pediatric age group has not been previously evaluated. Eighty-nine children (85 girls and 31 boys) aged 6 months to 16 years (mean age 4.7 years) underwent ligation of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) through a left thoracotomy. Twenty-nine children received intercostal blocks with bupivacaine from the level of the second to sixth thoracic vertebrae. Sixty cases constituted the control group. The patients with intercostal block had fewer doses of pain medication postoperatively, 2.7 mean (0 to 9), than did the control patients, 3.9 mean (0 to 21). The mean hospital stay was shortened in the patients with nerve block, 5.1 days versus 7.3 days for the control group. No ill effects of bupivacaine were noted. We conclude that intercostal nerve block is a valuable procedure reducing the need for postoperative analgesia and shortening hospital stay.