Transversus abdominis plane blocks for rescue analgesia after major abdominal surgery.

摘要

Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) block has been receiving increasing attention in the anaesthesiological literature. Two systematic reviews published in 2010 and 2011 concluded that a TAP block reduces the need for post-operative opioid requirements and opioid-related side-effects. However, a Cochrane review from December 2010 was less optimistic, stating that studies comparing a perioperative TAP block with either no intervention or placebo were very few and provided only limited evidence for these benefits. Also, the authors did not find any published studies comparing a TAP block with other regional anaesthetic techniques, such as epidural analgesia or local anaesthetic infiltration.