Rectus Sheath Block and Local Wound Infiltration in Pediatric Laparoscopic Appendectomies

Laparoscopic appendectomy surgeries are among the most commonly performed procedures in childhood. However, they are associated with moderate to severe postoperative pain. Regional nerve block techniques are recommended for postoperative pain management. This research compared the two most frequently used methods: rectus sheath block and local wound infiltration.

Acute appendectomy surgeries are one of the most frequently performed surgeries in childhood. Minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgical methods are recommended, especially in abdominal surgeries, due to rapid wound healing, rapid recovery, less bleeding, and shorter hospital stays compared to open surgery. In addition to all these advantages of laparoscopic surgeries, postoperative somatic pain is expected to be less compared to open surgeries due to the small incisions in the abdominal wall. However, when the pain severity of children who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy was evaluated using the pain scoring scale, it was seen that the median pain scores were ≥7 in 5% of the children (severe pain) and ≥4 in 25% (moderate pain). Clinical practice guidelines also recommend the use of regional anesthesia and analgesia methods as part of multimodal analgesia in the prevention of intraoperative and postoperative pain. We also routinely use regional anesthesia and analgesia methods successfully and effectively in our daily practices in our clinic. Rectus sheath blocks, which are known to be effective in midline incisions, and local anesthetic infiltrations of the wound site, which do not require special technical knowledge about regional anesthesia, are routinely applied in our clinic in every case. Although both methods provide clinical benefits, it is unknown which one is superior to the other.