Abstract
We read with great interest the recent study by Oliveira et al. 1 and would like to thank the authors for their valuable contribution to the literature.
In recent years, numerous meta-analyses have examined the analgesic efficacy of the erector spinae plane block (ESPB) after surgery. In most of these studies, analgesic effectiveness has mainly been assessed based on postoperative opioid consumption and pain scores. While some meta-analyses have reported that ESPB may reduce opioid requirements and pain scores, others have found no significant clinical benefit.
However, we believe that evaluating the effectiveness of a regional block solely through opioid consumption and pain scores offers a somewhat limited view. Considering broader functional and patient-centered outcomes may also help provide a more complete understanding of the clinical impact of regional anesthesia techniques.
In this context, we recently designed a study to explore the potential effect of ESPB performed at the end of surgery on the time it takes patients to return to daily activities following open inguinal hernia repair. Although our current analysis has not yet reached the planned sample size and remains underpowered, our preliminary findings suggest a tendency toward a shorter time to return to daily activities in patients who received ESPB (8.07 ± 4.37 days in the ESPB group versus 10.40 ± 5.38 days in the control group, P = 0.2).
In the literature, returning to work within the first postoperative week after inguinal hernia surgery has generally been considered an early return. In our study, the ESPB group appeared to approach this early return potential. 2
Despite the lack of clinically significant differences in opioid consumption or numerical rating scale pain scores, postoperative opioid consumption also tended to be lower in the ESPB group (66.67 ± 81.65) compared with the control group (113.33 ± 106.01, P = .19). The observed trend in functional recovery outcomes might indicate a potential benefit of ESPB. We expect that more definitive conclusions can be drawn once the target sample size is reached.
We believe that studies emphasizing functional and patient-centered outcomes can offer a broader perspective on the clinical utility of ESPB, beyond traditional analgesic parameters, and may contribute to a more comprehensive assessment of its role in perioperative pain management.
Sincerely,
Authors’ Contributions
T.K.: Conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing—original draft, and writing—review and editing. B.A.: Investigation, data curation, and writing—review and editing. E.K.Ş.: Resources. K.M.: Software. M.K.T.: Supervision, project administration, and writing—review and editing.
Footnotes
Acknowledgments
The authors sincerely thank Prof. Dr. Başak Altıparmak for her valuable contributions to this study.
Disclosure Statement
No competing financial interests exist.
Funding Information
No funding was received for this article.