Clinical Outcomes of Rectus Sheath Blocks in Minimizing Postoperative Pain After Surgical Intervention: A Case Series

Abstract

Upper abdominal surgery leads to severe postoperative pain. Insufficient postoperative analgesia accompanies a high incidence of complications. Therefore, postoperative analgesia is very important. The epidural analgesia has many advantages. However, it has a high risk of epidural hematoma in anticoagulated patients. Rectus sheath block provided safer and more reliable analgesia in recent years, by the development of ultrasound tools. We experienced two cases of the rectus sheath block in upper abdominal surgery under ultrasound guidance. Ultrasound-guided rectus sheath block can reduce the risk of peritoneal puncture, bleeding, and other complications. Rectus sheath block is very effective in reducing postoperative pain in upper abdominal surgery as an alternative method to epidural anesthesia in anticoagulated patients.