Efficacy of Interscalene Block Anesthesia on the Early Postoperative Pain after Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery: Comparison with General Anesthesia / 대한정형외과학회잡지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: After shoulder arthroscopy via general anesthesia, most patients complain of severe pain during the early post operative period. In this study, the efficacy of pain control during the early post operative period with interscalene block anesthesia for shoulder arthroscopy was investigated and compared with general anesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled study was conducted on 40 patients who underwent shoulder arthroscopy between September 2008 and March 2009. The patients were grouped according to the method of anesthesia. The visual analogue scale (VAS) at the preoperative and early postoperative periods was checked and compared. In addition, the duration of patient controlled analgesia (PCA) usage and additional pain killer injections were examined. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two groups for the VAS score before surgery, but the interscalene block group showed a significantly lower VAS score. The duration of PCA usage was also significantly longer for the interscalene block group, which implies less pain. The number of additional pain killer injections was significantly less in the interscalene block group. CONCLUSION: The patients who underwent shoulder arthroscopy with interscalene block had significantly less pain during the immediately post operative period for up to 48 hours. So patients could conduct initial rehabilitation and experience minimized side effects caused by analgesics due to the decreased use of pain killer. Therefore, interscalene block is considered a good method of anesthesia for the immediate postoperative pain control after shoulder arthroscopy.