Transversus abdominis plane block in cat cadavers: anatomical description and comparison of injectate spread using two- and three-point approaches

Ultrasound-Guided Lateral Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) Block in Rabbits: A Cadaveric Study

“…The ultrasound anatomy of TAP in rabbits is similar to that previously reported in cats [7,19]. Furthermore, the thickness of the individual muscle layers is very similar [7].…”

“…The ultrasound anatomy of TAP in rabbits is similar to that previously reported in cats [7,19]. Furthermore, the thickness of the individual muscle layers is very similar [7]. The knowledge of the thickness of the muscle layers and of the individual layers could be useful in clinical practice to facilitate the recognition of anatomical structures and perceive the depth of the fascial plane to be reached.…”

“…Bruggink et al have shown that larger volumes of local anaesthetic have a greater diffusion in the plane, and a solution of 1 mL/kg is able to cover up to four nerve roots in the TAP [22]. However, in a clinical setting, the choice of the volume injected is influenced by the need not to exceed the toxic dose of the local anaesthetic [7]. Based on our results, the most cranial diffusion of methylene blue was detected at T11 nerve eminence (successfully stained in 52% of cases), while nerve eminences of L3 and L4 were stained in 60% and 40% of cases, respectively.…”

“…This locoregional technique involves the infiltration of local anaesthetic into the fascial plane between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles to block the sensory components of the abdominal wall. Recently, the TAP block has been introduced in veterinary anaesthesia, both in experimental and clinical settings [4][5][6][7]. This technique involves injecting a volume of local anaesthetic into the neurovascular plane between the transversus abdominis and internal oblique muscle in order to saturate somatic afferents before they leave the TAP and provide analgesia in that anatomical area [8,9].…”

“…Alternative approaches with two sites of injection, one caudal to the last rib and the other cranial to the iliac crest, have been used to provide successful analgesia in dogs [12][13][14][15][16]. The spread of the volume injected and the features of these two different approaches were evaluated in dog [14,17,18], cat [7], pony [11], and calf [6] cadavers, as well as in one Canadian lynx [4], cats [19], ponies [9], and dogs [12] in vivo studies. To the authors' knowledge, there are no studies describing the US-guided lateral TAP block in rabbits.…”