No abstract

Background We aimed to determine with this randomized, triple-masked, placebo-controlled study if benefits are afforded by adding a multiple-day, ambulatory, continuous ropivacaine paravertebral nerve block to a single-injection ropivacaine paravertebral block following mastectomy. Methods Preoperatively, 60 subjects undergoing unilateral (n = 24) or bilateral (n = 36) mastectomy received either unilateral or bilateral paravertebral perineural catheter(s), respectively, inserted between the third and fourth thoracic transverse process(es). All subjects received an initial bolus of ropivacaine 0.5% (15 mL) via the catheter(s). Subjects were randomized to receive either perineural ropivacaine 0.4% or normal saline using portable infusion pump(s) [5 mL/h basal; 300 mL reservoir(s)]. Subjects remained hospitalized for at least 1 night and were subsequently discharged home where the catheter(s) were removed on postoperative day 3. Subjects were contacted by telephone on postoperative days 1, 4, 8, and 28. The primary end point was average pain (scale: 0–10) queried on postoperative day (POD) 1. Results Average pain queried on POD 1 for subjects receiving perineural ropivacaine (n=30) was a median (interquartile) of 2 (0–3), compared with 4 (1–5) for subjects receiving saline (n = 30; 95% CI difference in medians, −4.0 – −0.3; P = 0.021]. During this same time period, subjects receiving ropivacaine experienced a lower severity of breakthrough pain (5 [3–6] vs 7 [5–8]; P = 0.046) as well. As a result, subjects receiving perineural ropivacaine experienced less pain-induced physical and emotional dysfunction, as measured with the Brief Pain Inventory (lower score = less dysfunction): 14 (4–37) vs 57 (8–67) for subjects receiving perineural saline (P = 0.012). For the subscale that measures the degree of interference of pain on 7 domains, such as general activity and relationships, subjects receiving perineural saline reported a median score 10 times higher than those receiving ropivacaine (3 [0–24] versus 33 [0–44]; P = 0.035). In contrast, following infusion discontinuation there were no statistically significant differences detected between treatment groups. Conclusions Following mastectomy, adding a multiple-day, ambulatory, continuous ropivacaine infusion to a single-injection ropivacaine paravertebral nerve block results in improved analgesia and less functional deficit during the infusion. However, no benefits were identified following infusion discontinuation.

Compared with a continuous femoral nerve block, a continuous adductor canal block did not appreciably decrease the time to overall discharge readiness even though it did decrease the time until adequate mobilization, primarily because both groups experienced similar analgesia and intravenous opioid requirements that--in most cases--exceeded the time to mobilization.

Purpose Retrospective studies have associated perioperative regional anesthesia/analgesia during mastectomy for breast cancer with a decreased incidence of cancer recurrence. However, to date, no prospective data from a randomized, controlled trial has been reported. In a previous study we found that extending a single-injection paravertebral block with a multiple-day perineural local anesthetic infusion improves analgesia. This follow-up study investigates the rates of cancer recurrence for the single-injection and multiple-day infusion treatments. Methods Patients undergoing unilateral (n=24) or bilateral mastectomy (n=36) were included in the study. All had been diagnosed with breast cancer or tumor in situ, except for six patients who were receiving prophylactic bilateral mastectomy and were excluded from analyses. Patients received unilateral or bilateral single-injection thoracic paravertebral block(s) corresponding with their surgical site(s) with ropivacaine and perineural catheter(s). Subsequently, patients were randomized to receive either ropivacaine 0.4% (n=30) or normal saline (n=30) via their catheter(s) until catheter removal on postoperative day 3. Cancer recurrence from the date of surgery until at least 2 years post-surgery was investigated via chart review. Results Five of the 54 (9.2%) patients experienced a cancer recurrence following mastectomy: 3 of 26 (11.5%) of the patients with perineural ropivacaine and 2 of 28 (7.1%) of the patients with perineural saline. Conclusions This pilot study found no evidence that extending a single-injection paravertebral block with a multi-day perineural local anesthetic infusion decreases the risk post-mastectomy cancer recurrence. However, due to the small sample size of this investigation, further research is needed to draw definitive conclusions.