Background: Common regional anesthesia approaches for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) include paravertebral block (PVB) and erector spinae plane block (ESPB). PVB is considered a deep nerve block which is contraindicated in antithrombotic therapy. ESPB is effective when administered as a bolus, as well as continuously. However, the recently proposed intertransverse process block (ITPB) ensures more effective diffusion of the local anesthetic into the paravertebral space.Case: We report cases of three patients who received bolus ITPB (costotransverse foramen block and mid-point transverse process-to-pleura block in one and two cases, respectively) combined with continuous ESPB when a deep nerve block could not be administered. Opioids were not required postoperatively, and all postoperative numerical rating scale scores (0–10) at rest were maintained below 4.Conclusions: The combination of bolus ITPB and continuous ESPB may be an alternative analgesic method when deep nerve blocks are contraindicated in VATS.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.