Ahemed
Ahemed
Ahemed
Clinical Study
Efficacy of Bilateral Transversus Abdominis Plane and
Ilioinguinal-Iliohypogastric Nerve Blocks for Postcaesarean
Delivery Pain Relief under Spinal Anesthesia
Seid Adem Ahemed, Zewditu Abdissa Denu , Habtamu Getinet Kassahun, and
Demeke Yilikal Fentie
Department of Anesthesia, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
Received 15 August 2017; Revised 20 November 2017; Accepted 28 November 2017; Published 21 January 2018
Copyright © 2018 Seid Adem Ahemed et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Background. Caesarean delivery can be associated with considerable postoperative pain. While the benefits of transversus
abdominis plane (TAP) and ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (II-IH) nerve blocks on pain after caesarean delivery via Pfannenstiel
incision have been demonstrated, no enough investigations on the comparison of these blocks on pain after caesarean delivery
have been conducted in our setup. Method. An institutional-based prospective observational cohort study was conducted to
compare the analgesic efficacy of those blocks. We observed 102 postoperative parturients. The outcome measure was the severity
of pain measured using a numeric rating scale. Result. Twenty-four hours after surgery, the NRS score at rest was (0.90 ± 0.80)
versus (0.67 ± 0.58) and at movement (1.2 ± 1.07) versus (0.88 ± 0.76) for the TAP and II-IH groups, respectively. Twenty-four
hours after surgery, the mean tramadol consumption was (55.45 ± 30.51) versus (37.27 ± 27.09) mg in TAP and II-IH groups,
respectively (p � 0.009). The mean first analgesic requirement time was also prolonged in the II-IH group. Conclusion and
Recommendations. There was no statically significant difference between TAP and II-IH blocks regarding postoperative pain
score, but the II-IH block significantly reduced the total tramadol consumption and prolonged the time to first analgesic request
than TAP. Thus, we recommend the II-IH nerve block.
intrathecal administration prior to section or by post- practice to the study area, and knowing the efficacy of these
operative parenteral administration as a component of blocks will allow anesthetists to choose the most effective one
multimodal analgesia during the postoperative period [6, 8]. to manage postoperative CD pain.
Even if opioids are available to be administered via the The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of the
spinal or systemic route, they had adverse effects such as TAP block and II-IH block in controlling postcaesarean
nausea, vomiting, sedation, itching, and risk of delayed section pain.
maternal respiratory depression, all of which reduce overall
patient satisfaction [2, 3, 8].
Additionally, these opioid-related adverse effects can 2. Methods
produce other problems for new mothers such as delayed An institutional-based observational cohort study was
initiation of breastfeeding and impairment of mother/infant conducted from April 1 to May 30, 2017, at Gondar Uni-
bonding [3]. versity Teaching Hospital after we secured ethical approval
An ideal method of pain relief after caesarean delivery from the University of Gondar Ethical Review Board. The
should be cost-effective, safe for the mother, require minimal minimum sample size calculated for this study was 102, and
monitoring, and use drugs that are not secreted into breast the sample size calculation was done based on the two
milk. Moreover, the mother should not be sedated by the population proportion principles:
drugs that prevent her from moving freely and caring for the
newborn. p1 1 − p1 + p2 1 − p2
2 × f(α, β). (1)
Minor side effects, such as pruritus and shivering, may p2 − p1
interfere with care of the newborn, leading to less maternal
satisfaction. Drug availability, maternal health conditions, (i) Hence, the incidence of moderate-to-severe pain
patient preferences, and availability of medical expertise and after CD without intervention was 87%, and we got
trained support staff also play a role in choice of the analgesic pain reduction after clients received bilateral TAP
method. and II-IH blocks 40% and 70%, respectively. And we
Many scholars have been studying to find the safest and calculated p1 by reducing 40% of 87% from 87%
effective way of interventions for postoperative CD pain (p1 � 0.87−0.348 � 0.522) and p2 by reducing 70% of
management, and they suggest methods like opioid or local 87% from 87% (0.87−0.69 � 0.261) since we need
anesthetic skin infiltration, epidural analgesia, intrathecal or only pain reduction after the block from the in-
intravenous opioids, and abdominal field blocks like TAP _
cidence of pain (87%) by taking f(α, β) � 7.85 with
and II-IH. a power of 80% and 0.05 significance.
Among the above-listed ways of pain management,
(ii) Since f(α, β) � 7.85 or 10.5 for 80% or 90% power,
intravenous opioids and regional nerve blocks are the
respectively, with 5% significance, the significance
mainstay of treatment for postcaesarean pain here in the
(risk of type I error) is almost always set at 5%.
study area.
Epidural analgesia, which is the gold standard for control So per group, we have 51 participants.
of labour pain and postoperative pain, is not commonly We included ASA I and ASA II patients. Finally, we
practiced in our setup due to lack of the epidural kit. selected every consecutive parturient for whom the above-
Abdominal field blocks like TAP and II-IH are the mentioned nerve blocks were done and who also vol-
mainstay of treatment for postcaesarean pain for both the unteered to give consent to participate in the study till the
midline and Pfannenstiel incision because of the opioid required sample is achieved. Our primary outcome measure
sparing effect, prolonged pain relief, and technical sim- was the severity of pain which was measured using the nu-
plicity, and also, it does not need repeated injection for meric rating scale. The secondary outcomes were the total
optimal pain relief [3, 9]. analgesic consumption and time for the first analgesic request.
TAP and II-IH nerve blocks are well known and easy to As to the data collection procedure, two trained anesthetists
perform, and currently, these blocks are done in the study collect all the required information based on the checklist
area for post-CD pain management. prepared in English. The investigators had no power to decide
There are no enough data concerning the efficacy of TAP which type of block would be given for the mother (only the
versus II-IH nerve blocks in the management of post- responsible anesthesiologist had this right, i.e., he/she did the
operative pain in parturients undergoing caesarean section. block as he/she wishes, either TAP or II-IH).
Most of the studies that have been done to determine the But the investigator stayed in the operating theater and
efficacy of those blocks in post-CD pain management are saw the type of block that the responsible anesthesiologist
done in western countries, but there is no published liter- had done and put the code on the chart. The type of block
ature in Ethiopia. was not clearly recorded on the chart except the code so that
The presence of racial, cultural, genetic, and socio- data collectors are blinded to the type of block done for each
demographic differences in the perception of pain has been mother.
well documented [10, 11]. The relative proportion of these blocks in our institution
There is also controversy regarding the efficacy of the two looks equal (1 : 1) because everybody is doing these blocks
blocks [12, 13], so comparing the effectiveness of TAP blocks randomly as they wish for transverse incision, but for
with that of II-IH nerve blocks will help us to have a best vertical incision, they do only TAP.
Anesthesiology Research and Practice 3
The block was done by using the landmark technique for Table 1: Sociodemographic and other characteristics of study
both types, and a total of 32 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine for II- participants from April 1 to May 30, 2017, in Northwest Ethiopia.
IH block (8 ml in each side) and 40 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine Character TAP (n � 51) II-IH (n � 51) p value
for TAP block (20 ml in each side) were given. Age (years) 27.27 ± 2.88 26.69 ± 1.79 0.219
Pain assessment was performed at 0 hr, 4 hr, 6 hr, 8 hr,
Height (meter) 1.67 ± 0.04 1.65 ± 0.04 0.077
12 hr, and 24 hr in the ward by blinded data collectors who
were unaware of the type of the nerve block done. And the Weight (kg) 63.10 ± 7.69 64.88 ± 9.45 0.299
total analgesic consumption within 24 hours was also BMI (kg/m2) 22.63 ± 2.01 23.29 ± 2.97 0.192
recorded. ASA I 40 (78.51%) 39 (76.34%) 0.814
Data were coded, entered, cleaned, and cross-checked ASA II 11 (21.56%) 12 (23.52 %)
with SPSS version 20 statistical package. The data were Parity
tested for normality using the Shapiro–Wilk normality Nulliparous 28 (54.90%) 27 (52.90%) 0.843
test. Normally distributed data were analyzed using
Multiparous 23 (45.09%) 24 (47.05%)
Student’s t-test.
All data other than categorical parameters were analyzed Number of previous c/s
using Student’s t-test. 0 39 (76.47%) 38 (74.50%)
The comparisons of categorical parameters were ana- 1 11 (21.56%) 9 (17.64%) 0.529
lyzed using the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test as 2 1 (1.96%) 3 (5.88%)
required and expressed in % and numbers. Data were 3 0 (0%) 1 (1.96%)
presented as mean ± SD. p value < 0.05 was considered Level of sensory block
statistically significant. T6-T4 7 (13.72%) 8 (15.68%) 0.780
T7-T10 44 (86.27%) 43 (84.31%)
3. Results Duration of surgery (min) 45.29 ± 9.24 48.33 ± 7.85 0.077
A total of hundred and two clients were enrolled in the
current study with a response rate of 100%. The age of
participants was 26.98 with a standard deviation of 2.4
years. Assessment of the ASA physical status showed that Table 2: Postoperative pulse rate (beats per minute) in both groups
78% of the TAP and 76% of the II-IH groups were ASA I who underwent caesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia in
and 21.56% of the TAP and 23.5% of the II-IH groups were Gondar University Hospital from April 1 to May 30, 2017, in
ASA II (Table 1). Northwest Ethiopia.
Postoperative vital signs (postoperative pulse rate and
TAP group II-IH group
mean arterial blood pressure) were comparable between the Postoperative time p value
(n � 51) (n � 51)
two groups (Tables 2 and 3).
0 hour 77.29 ± 4.11 75.20 ± 7.91 0.96
4 hours 76.00 ± 5.21 77.27 ± 5.37 0.22
3.1. Postoperative Pain Scores using Numerical Rating 6 hours 76.02 ± 5.98 77.35 ± 2.99 0.15
Scale. With regard to the postoperative pain score, there was 8 hours 76.04 ± 6.09 76.16 ± 6.76 0.92
no difference between the two groups. We assessed the pain 12 hours 76.41 ± 3.00 76.53 ± 2.36 0.82
score at rest, on coughing, and at movement. The result 24 hours 76.53 ± 3.85 75.16 ± 3.63 0.06
shows no statistically significant difference between the two Data are mean ± SD.
groups (Tables 4 and 5).
The mean tramadol consumption for the TAP group was
52.45 with a standard deviation of 30.5, and for the II IH
group, it was 37.25 ± 27.09 mg; the mean first analgesic
consumption time in this study was 10.71 ± 7.67 hr for the Table 3: Postoperative mean arterial blood pressure (mmHg) in
TAP group and 14.09 ± 8.20 hr for the II-IH group, with a p both groups who underwent caesarean delivery under spinal an-
value of 0.03 (Table 6) esthesia in Gondar University Hospital from April 1 to May 30,
2017, in Northwest Ethiopia.
4. Discussion Postoperative time
TAP group II-IH group
p value
(n � 51) (n � 51)
We found that there was no statistically significant difference 0 hour 78.43 ± 5.45 76.42 ± 5.59 0.06
between TAP and II-IH blocks in the numeric pain rating 4 hours 84.33 ± 8.29 84.25 ± 7.62 0.96
score both at rest and at movement for the first postoperative
6 hours 85.05 ± 6.18 85.01 ± 6.47 0.97
24 hours, but the II-IH nerve block significantly reduced
total tramadol consumption and prolonged the time for the 8 hours 87.23 ± 5.43 88.08 ± 3.88 0.36
first analgesic request. 12 hours 84.77 ± 6.66 86.22 ± 6.02 0.25
Studies comparing the two blocks are rare, so we 24 hours 89.03 ± 3.24 89.41 ± 3.84 0.58
compare our results separately for each block. Data are mean ± SD.
4 Anesthesiology Research and Practice
Table 4: Postoperative NRS scores at rest over the first 24 post- Another review and meta-analysis done by Mishriky
operative hours among parturients who underwent caesarean et al. concluded that the TAP block improved post-
delivery under spinal anesthesia in Gondar University Hospital operative analgesia and reduced the pain score in women
from April 1 to May 30, 2017, in Northwest Ethiopia. undergoing CD [4]. These two are in agreement with our
Character TAP group II-IH group p value results.
NRS score at 0 hr 0.00 0.00 A meta-analysis done by Champaneria et al. in 2016
NRS score at 4 hr 0.69 ± 1.46 0.41 ± 1.00 0.27 showed that the TAP block provided effective analgesia and
reduced the postoperative pain score after caesarean section
NRS score at 6 hr 0.67 ± 0.136 0.41 ± 1.09 0.30
[15]. This is comparable to our result.
NRS score at 8 hr 0.65 ± 1.18 0.35 ± 0.79 0.14 Our result is comparable with a randomized control trial
NRS score at 12 hr 0.49 ± 0.857 0.16 ± 0.46 0.22 study done in Saudi Arabia that showed the NRS score was
NRS score at 24 hr 0.90 ± 0.80 0.67 ± 0.58 0.95 significantly lower in the TAP group than the control up to
Data are mean ± SD. 24 hr both at rest and at movement after caesarean delivery
via Pfannenstiel incision [15].
On the other hand, a study done by Sakalli et al. showed
Table 5: Postoperative NRS scores at movement or on coughing in that the II-IH nerve block decreased the mean VAS score
the postoperative 24 hours of parturients who underwent caesarean both at rest and at movement within 24 hours after CD [2].
delivery under spinal anesthesia in Gondar University Hospital
This is comparable with our finding.
from April 1 to May 30, 2017, in Northwest Ethiopia.
Similarly, a study done in Jordan showed a significant
Character TAP group II-IH group p value reduction in the mean VAS score after the II-IH nerve
NRS score at 0 hr 0.00 0.00 block when compared with the placebo group in parturi-
NRS score at 4 hr 1.63 ± 2.12 0.96 ± 1.52 0.07 ents who underwent caesarean delivery under general
NRS score at 6 hr 1.84 ± 1.88 1.24 ± 1.53 0.07 anesthesia [16, 17].
NRS score at 8 hr 1.39 ± 1.53 1.00 ± 1.09 0.14
Our study demonstrated that II-IH reduced the NRS
pain score which is consistent with a study done by Bunting
NRS score at 12 hr 1.39 ± 1.49 0.92 ± 1.197 0.08
and McConachie and Ganta and colleagues, who analyzed
NRS score at 24 hr 1.20 ± 1.07 0.88 ± 0.76 0.09 the mean VAS score, and they found it to be less with the II-
Data are mean ± SD. IH block as compared with the placebo group in parturients
who underwent caesarean delivery [18]. A study of Bell and
colleagues also demonstrated that the VAS score was re-
Table 6: Postoperative total opioid consumption and first analgesic duced with the II IH nerve block [3].
request time over the first 24 postoperative hours of parturients A study done in Turkey by Yucel and colleagues showed
who underwent caesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia in that the II-IH nerve block reduced the VAS score for the first
Gondar University Hospital from April 1 to May 30, 2017, in 24 hr postoperatively than the control group. This is com-
Northwest Ethiopia. parable with the current study [19].
Character TAP group II-IH group p value In this study, the mean time for the first analgesic request
Total tramadol was significantly prolonged in the II-IH group (p � 0.03).
52.45 ± 30.51 37.25 ± 27.09 0.009 This is consistent with the finding of the previous com-
consumption (mg)
First analgesic parative study done in Russia which showed that the II-IH
10.71 ± 7.67 14.09 ± 8.20 hr 0.03 block prolonged the time to first analgesic requirement in
request time (hr)
Data are mean ± SD. a statistically significant fashion than the TAP block fol-
lowing CD [14].
We found that the total amount of tramadol con-
Our result was comparable with the randomized sumption over the first 24-hour postoperative time was
controlled study done in Russia which showed that there lower in the II-IH group than that in the TAP group. This
was no statistically significant VAS (visual analogue score) result is comparable with the previous study [14]. One study
difference between TAP and II-IH blocks after caesarean done in New Zealand was also in line with this study [12].
delivery via Pfannenstiel incision within 24 hours post- Our finding was also comparable with the studies
operatively [14]. conducted by Yucel et al. and Naghshineh et al. where they
A randomized comparative study done in New Zealand have found that postoperative analgesic consumption was
showed that the II-IH nerve block reduced the pain score significantly lower in the parturients who received the II-IH
significantly and postoperative total tramadol consumption block as compared with the control group [20].
(p � 0.03) than the TAP block after inguinal surgery [12].
This is consistent with our result regarding tramadol 5. Conclusion and Recommendation
consumption.
A systematic review and meta-analysis done by Abdallah There was no statistically significant difference between
et al. in Canada demonstrated that the TAP block enhances TAP and II-IH nerve blocks regarding the postoperative
analgesia after caesarean delivery with detectable analgesic pain score in each time point both at rest and at movement,
effects for the entire 24 hours [5]. but the II-IH block significantly reduced total tramadol
Anesthesiology Research and Practice 5
consumption and prolonged the time to first analgesic re- [10] D. Belavy, P. Cowlishaw, M. Howes, and F. Phillips,
quest than TAP. “Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block for
We recommend the II-IH nerve block for postcaesarean analgesia after caesarean delivery,” British Journal of Anaes-
delivery pain management via Pfannenstiel incision. thesia, vol. 103, no. 5, pp. 726–730, 2009.
[11] M. C. Vallejo, T. L. Steen, B. T. Cobb, et al., “Efficacy of the
bilateral ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric block with intrathecal
Conflicts of Interest morphine for postoperative cesarean delivery analgesia,” The
Scientific World Journal, vol. 2012, Article ID 107316, 6 pages,
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. 2012.
[12] M. J. Fredrickson, C. Paine, and J. Hamill, “Improved anal-
Authors’ Contributions gesia with the ilioinguinal block compared to the transversus
abdominis plane block after pediatric inguinal surgery:
All authors contributed equally to this work. a prospective randomized trial,” Pediatric Anesthesia, vol. 20,
no. 11, pp. 1022–1027, 2010.
Acknowledgments [13] C. Aveline, H. Le Hetet, A. Le Roux et al., “Comparison
between ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane and
The authors would like to acknowledge the University of conventional ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve blocks for
Gondar, Research and Community Service Vice President day-case open inguinal hernia repair,” British Journal of
Office, for their support. The authors would also like to Anaesthesia, vol. 106, no. 3, pp. 380–386, 2011.
appreciate data collectors, our participants, and Gondar [14] A. E. Bessmertnyj, E. E Antipin, D. N Uvarov, S. V Sedyh, and
E. V Nedashkovsky, “Comparison of the effectiveness of
University Hospital.
ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric blockade and transversus
abdominis plane block for analgesia after cesarean section,”
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