Continuous TAP Blocks: Relative Effects of a Basal Infusion vs. Repeated Bolus Doses

Summary

Single-injection transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks have been used to treat postoperative pain, and are become very popular within the United States because of their high analgesic potency and relative ease of placement. Unfortunately, the longest local anesthetic available lasts only 8-12 hours. Continuous TAP blocks-also termed "perineural infusion"-involve bathing the multiple nerves of the abdominal wall in local anesthetic using a percutaneously-inserted perineural catheter inserted just anterior (ventral) and cephalad to the anterior superior iliac spine. For most catheter locations, an infusion is preferred to a single-injection nerve block because the duration of analgesia may be extended to better match the duration of surgical pain. But, unlike brachial plexus, femoral, and sciatic nerve perineural infusion, a continuous basal infusion of local anesthetic does not provide adequate analgesia for TAP catheters. This may be due to the fact that the TAP is a relatively tight space, so it might require a bolus of fluid to adequately spread the perineural local anesthetic to the multiple required nerves (as evidence of this, single-injection TAP blocks are very effective, although with a limited duration). The result is that while single-injection TAP blocks are widely used, TAP catheters have not been adopted. This scenario leaves surgical pain untreated following the resolution of the single-injection TAP block. The recent development of an infusion pump that can automatically deliver repeated bolus doses may allow the spread of local anesthetic to the multiple sensory nerves necessary to provide adequate analgesia, with a duration that better matches postoperative requirements. The investigators therefore propose a randomized, double-masked, controlled trial to determine if delivering local anesthetic as a repeated bolus dose results in improved local anesthetic spread/effects compared with a continuous basal infusion for TAP catheters.

Timeline

Start

2016-02

Primary completion

2016-06

Completion

2016-06

Publications

• Background Ilfeld BM. Continuous peripheral nerve blocks: a review of the published evidence. Anesth Analg. 2011 Oct;113(4):904-25. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0b013e3182285e01. Epub 2011 Aug 4.
• Background Hebbard PD, Barrington MJ, Vasey C. Ultrasound-guided continuous oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane blockade: description of anatomy and clinical technique. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2010 Sep-Oct;35(5):436-41. doi: 10.1097/aap.0b013e3181e66702.
• Background Stoving K, Rothe C, Rosenstock CV, Aasvang EK, Lundstrom LH, Lange KH. Cutaneous Sensory Block Area, Muscle-Relaxing Effect, and Block Duration of the Transversus Abdominis Plane Block: A Randomized, Blinded, and Placebo-Controlled Study in Healthy Volunteers. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2015 Jul-Aug;40(4):355-62. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000252.
• Background Borglum J, Jensen K, Christensen AF, Hoegberg LC, Johansen SS, Lonnqvist PA, Jansen T. Distribution patterns, dermatomal anesthesia, and ropivacaine serum concentrations after bilateral dual transversus abdominis plane block. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2012 May-Jun;37(3):294-301. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0b013e31824c20a9.
• Background Carney J, Finnerty O, Rauf J, Bergin D, Laffey JG, Mc Donnell JG. Studies on the spread of local anaesthetic solution in transversus abdominis plane blocks. Anaesthesia. 2011 Nov;66(11):1023-30. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2011.06855.x. Epub 2011 Aug 18.
• Results Khatibi B, Said ET, Sztain JF, Monahan AM, Gabriel RA, Furnish TJ, Tran JT, Donohue MC, Ilfeld BM. Continuous Transversus Abdominis Plane Nerve Blocks: Does Varying Local Anesthetic Delivery Method-Automatic Repeated Bolus Versus Continuous Basal Infusion-Influence the Extent of Sensation to Cold?: A Randomized, Triple-Masked, Crossover Study in Volunteers. Anesth Analg. 2017 Apr;124(4):1298-1303. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000001939.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.