Title
Effect of ESP (Erector Spinae Plane) block for thoracic surgeries - A randomized trial
Authors
Asim Shekhar, Amit Kumar Prasad & Rajesh Kumar Jha*
Affiliation
Department of Anaesthesiology, RDJM Medical College & Hospital, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India; *Corresponding author
Asim Shekhar - E-mail: ashekhar05@gmail.com
Amit Kumar Prasad - E-mail: bablooprasad11@gmail.com
Rajesh Kumar Jha - E-mail: rajeshjha93@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received April 1, 2026; Revised April 30, 2026; Accepted April 30, 2026, Published April 30, 2026
Abstract
Post-thoracic surgery pain impairs recovery, prompting evaluation of ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane (ESP) block versus standard multimodal analgesia. This RCT randomized 120 elective thoracic surgery patients to ESP (20 mL of 0.375% ropivacaine, n=60) or control (n=60), assessing NRS pain at 6/12/24 h, opioid use, first analgesic time, satisfaction and complications. ESP reduced NRS scores (6h: 3.2±1.4 vs 5.8±1.9; 12h: 2.9±1.3 vs 5.1±1.7; 24h: 2.1±1.1 vs 4.2±1.6, all p<0.001), 24h morphine (12.4±6.8 vs 28.7±9.2 mg, p<0.001) and extended first analgesia (8.7±3.2 vs 2.1±1.4h, p<0.001), boosting satisfaction (8.6±1.2 vs 6.4±1.8, p<0.001) without complications. ESP block markedly outperforms standard care for thoracic analgesia, minimizing opioids and enhancing recovery metrics. Thus, we document ESP's safety/efficacy in thoracic surgery, suggesting its routine integration into multimodal protocols.
Keywords
Erector spinae plane (ESP) block, thoracic surgery, post-operative pain, regional anesthesia, opioid consumption, ultrasound-guided
Citation
Shekhar et al. Bioinformation 22(4): 2190-2195 (2026)
Edited by
Vini Mehta
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
