The Effect of Stellate Ganglion Block for Controlling Postoperative Pain after the Shoulder Joint Surgery / 대한통증학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There are cases in which shoulder pain persists long after shoulder joint surgery and this pain can not be reduced by intravenous patient controlled analgesia (IVPCA). Our purpose was to evaluate the effect of stellate ganglion block (SGB) on postoperative shoulder pain and also to investigate the effect of preventive SBG on complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). METHODS: Forty patients, who were evaluated to ASA class 1 and 2 and who were scheduled for shoulder joint surgery under general anesthesia, were randomly divided into 2 groups. The experimental group of patients (n = 20) received SGB with 0.5% mepivacaine 8 ml after induction of general anesthesia. The control group of patients (n = 20) received only general anesthesia. Their postoperative pain was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) at 30 min, 1, 2, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours postoperatively. Whenever patients wanted supplemental analgesia, diclofenac sodium 75 mg was injected intramuscularly and the need for supplemental analgesia was recorded. RESULTS: The experimental group of patients had significantly lower pain scores at 30 min, 1, 2 and 6 hours and also significantly lower analgesic requirement at 1, 2 and 6 hours. CONCLUSIONS: We found SGB was effective for controlling postoperative pain after shoulder joint surgery. Also, we could expect that SGB reduced the incidence of CRPS.