Comparison of the analgesic effects continuous epidural anesthesia and continuous rectus sheath block in patients undergoing gynecological cancer surgery: a non-inferiority randomized control trial

The Shining Star of the Last Decade in Regional Anesthesia Part-II: Interfascial Plane Blocks for Cardiac, Abdominal, and Spine Surgery

“… 56 , 57 In gynecological cancer surgery, there are studies where no significant difference was observed between groups in pain scores when compared to epidural anesthesia between patient groups who underwent continuous epidural and continuous rectus sheath block catheter and between patient groups who underwent colorectal surgery. 58 , 59 Furthermore, there are different case series in the literature, including gynecological, colorectal, and inguinal hernia repair surgeries, along with complementary analgesic techniques for the anterior and lateral walls of the abdomen, such as TAP block. 60 …”

Research design is important in comparing analgesic efficacy of epidural and regional blocks following laparoscopic abdominal surgery

“…A non-inferiority randomized control trial performed in the patients undergoing gynecological cancer surgery demonstrates that the continuous RSB is not inferior to the continuous TEA for postoperative analgesia at rest, but is inferior to the continuous TEA during movement. 2 Thus, we argue that this design limitation would have biased pain outcomes in favor of patients receiving continuous TEA in this study.…”

“…In designing a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial, the non-inferiority margin is actually effect size and is used for sample size evaluation, as performed in other works. 2 Thus, we questioned the sample size calculation of this study, as an incorrect effect size was selected.…”