Objective To evaluate the effects of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block on postoperative analgesia and early recovery in patients undergoing retroperitoneoscopic urologic surgeries. Methods This was a randomized, controlled, double-blinded trial. Eligible patients scheduled for retroperitoneoscopic urologic surgeries were randomly assigned to two groups. Group TAP received ultrasound-guided TAP block with 0.5% ropivacaine 20 ml at 30 minutes before surgery, and Group C received TAP sham block with normal saline. All patients received retroperitoneoscopic urologic surgeries under general anesthesia. The primary outcome was the severity of pain after surgery. Secondary outcomes included opioids consumption, analgesics, postoperative nausea and vomiting, time to Foley catheter removal and to passage of flatus, length of post-anesthesia care unit stay and hospital stay. Results Eighty patients completed the study, forty cases in each group. Compared to the Group C, the Group TAP had lower visual analogue scale pain scores within two postoperative days (all P<0.05). They also had less consumption of intraoperative fentanyl (2.0±0.5 vs. 3.8±0.7 μg/kg, P<0.05), reduced incidence of postoperative rescue analgesic usage (12.5% vs. 45.0%, P<0.05), and lower incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting within postoperative 48 hours (12.5% vs. 25.0%, P<0.05) when compared to the Group C. In addition, Group TAP had a shortened post-anesthesia care unit stay (25±8 vs. 49±12 minutes, P<0.05), and a greater proportion of patients discharged within postoperative three days (57.5% vs. 35.0%, P<0.05). Conclusion Preoperative ultrasound-guided TAP block is an effective technique to improve postoperative analgesia and early recovery in patients undergoing retroperitoneoscopic urologic surgeries.
