Background: Thoracotomy is a very painful surgical procedure that is used to get access into the pleural space, to the lungs, to the heart, to the esophagus or to get access to the thoracic aorta or anterior mediastinum. Objective: To study different modalities of treatment used for post thoracotomy pain control. Recent Findings: Inadequate post-thoracotomy analgesia enhances the postoperative stress response with deleterious effects on respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, urinary, immune and coagulation systems. In addition to anxiety and increased risk of Post Thoracotomy Pain Syndrome (PTPS), which can interfere with normal life and may persist for years or even for life? Conclusion: Providing adequate post-thoracotomy analgesia can be challenging, as patients are often elderly or having multiple comorbidities. A multimodal approach is considered in managing post-thoracotomy pain starting with preemptive analgesia and cognitive behavioral modalities in addition to conventional multimodal systemic regimens as opioids, acetaminophen, NSAID, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2-specific inhibitors, gabapentin and pregabalin, steroids, IV lidocaine infusion, ketamine, and many regional analgesic modalities to avoid or decrease adverse effects of systemic regimens. These regional analgesic modalities include thoracic epidural blocks, thoracic paravertebral blocks, intrathecal opioid analgesia, serratus anterior plane blocks, intercostal nerve blocks, interscalene block, erector spinae block and interpleural block.

Background: Chest wall surgeries are accompanied by severe postoperative pain. Inadequate relief of this pain may lead to both pulmonary complications as lung atelectasis and infection and chronic post thoracotomy pain syndrome. Regional analgesic modalities are important portion of the multimodal therapeutic approach suggested for the management of post thoracotomy pain. Objective: To evaluate serratus anterior plane block as a regional analgesia technique for post thoracotomy and thoracoscopy pain. Recent Findings: Serratus anterior plane block (SAPB), a regional analgesic modality developed by Blanco et al. in 2013, has shown good analgesic effect after thoracotomy and thoracoscopy in many case reports and clinical trials. In such block, a local anesthetic is injected in the fascial plane deep or superficial to the serratus anterior muscle leading to block of lateral cutaneous branches of the intercostal nerves. This provides a sensory block of T2-T9 dermatomes. Conclusion: Serratus anterior plane block as a fascial plane block can be a preferred regional analgesia technique for both post-operative pain management with procedures involving anterolateral chest wall as thoracotomy, thoracoscopy and breast surgery and in cases of multiple rib fractures. This is owing to its easy technique, effective pain relief and potentially better side effects profile compared to other regional modalities and systemic opioids.