Postoperative quality of recovery with erector spinae plane block or thoracolumbar interfascial plane block after major spinal surgery: a randomized controlled trial

Major spinal surgery causes severe postoperative pain. The present randomized, controlled, prospective study tested the short- and long-term effects of thoracolumbar interfascial and erector spinae plane blocks on patient-centered outcomes for major lumbar spinal surgery.

Sixty adult patients were randomly assigned to receive either bilateral thoracolumbar interfascial plane or erector spinae plane block after anesthesia induction using bupivacaine 0.25%, 20 mL. The primary outcome of this study was the Quality of Recovery-40 score in the postoperative 24th hour. Secondary outcomes were Comprehensive Complication Index scores, postoperative pain scores, opioid consumption, first rescue analgesic administration time, and complication incidence.

The recovery scores of both blocks at the postoperative 24th hour were similar, with a median thoracolumbar interfascial plane block of 178 (IQR 173–180) and an erector spinae plane block of 175 (IQR 168.7–182) (p = 0.717). Thoracolumbar interfascial plane block reduced area under the curve pain with movement over 24 h compared with erector spinae plane block (p = 0.024). The pain scores between the groups were similar at all time points (p > 0.05), except the 24th hour with movement in the thoracolumbar interfascial plane block compared with the erector spinae plane block [median 3 (IQR 2–4)] vs. 4 (IQR 3–5), respectively] (p = 0.019). No differences were recorded between the block groups regarding postoperative 24th-h oxycodone consumption, time to first opioid intake, and complication incidence (p > 0.05).

Both blocks resulted in similar quality of recovery in the postoperative 24-h period in major spinal surgery and were effective in terms of analgesia.