Background
Pain following laparoscopic surgeries is a major concern that has been managed by several modalities with varying results. Ultrasound-Guided Transversus Abdominis Plane Block (TAPB) is considered a modality that may help decrease postoperative pain and opioid consumption and its related side effects which may contribute to reduction of hospital stay and improvement in functional recovery.
Objective
The aim of this scoping review was to demonstrate the efficacy of ultrasound guided TAPB for pain relief following laparoscopic surgeries and its effect on minimizing opioid consumption and incidence of side effects
Method
This scoping review was reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping review guidelines. A search of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases was conducted. The titles and abstracts of potentially relevant studies were screened before the retrieval of the full texts, which were then examined to determine which studies met the eligibility criteria (adult patients, receiving TAPB and undergoing laparoscopic surgeries, English language, full text articles related to TAPB and laparoscopic surgeries)
Results
One hundred and seventeen potentially eligible studies were identified. 98 records were excluded as they were either duplicates or did not meet the eligibility criteria leaving 19 articles. 13 articles were found discussing the efficacy of TAPB on pain intensity, most of which concluded that TAPB provided superior pain relief when compared with other methods. Most of the reviewed articles found no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) or the quality of functional recovery among patients who received TAPB.
Conclusion
This scoping review suggests that TAPB is an effective technique for analgesia following laparoscopic surgeries. Further studies are required to better elucidate the effects of TAPB on the incidence of side effects and on patients’ functional recovery due to the limited number of reports discussing these outcomes.