Postoperative pain relief effect of a suprascapular nerve block before arthroscopic shoulder surgery

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Arthroscopic shoulder surgery results in severe postoperative pain in 45% of patients which requires a large amount of opioids for relief. We hypothesized that a suprascapular nerve block before arthroscopic shoulder surgery would improve the quality of postoperative pain relief thereby allowing patients to require significantly reduced amounts of opioids. METHODS: Sixty patients were randomized from a elective arthroscopic shoulder surgery list either into a control group (group 1, n = 30) with only intravenous, patient-controlled analgesia (IV PCA) or an experimental group (group 2, n = 30) involving a suprascapular nerve block before arthroscopic shoulder surgery. The patients had an induction of general endotracheal anesthesia with or without suprascapular nerve block before operation. The IV PCA was connected to the patients 10 minutes after induction. Both groups were analyzed by chi square test and t-test. RESULTS: The postoperative VAS scores for group 2 decreased more than those for group 1. In particular, the VAS scores for group 2 within 12 hours after the operation were significantly higher than those 12 hours postoperative, as compared to group 1. CONCLUSIONS: Increased pain relief and less reliance on opioid can be expected through the use of a suprascapular nerve block prior to arthroscopic shoulder surgery.