The bilateral superficial cervical plexus block with 0.75% ropivacaine administered before or after surgery does not prevent postoperative pain after total thyroidectomy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patients undergoing thyroid surgery need postoperative pain management. Bilateral superficial cervical plexus block by administration of 0.25% bupivacaine with 1:200000 epinephrine at the end of surgery has been shown to improve postoperative analgesia. The objective of this study was to assess the analgesic efficacy in the first 36 postoperative hours after total thyroidectomy of bilateral superficial cervical plexus block with 0.75% ropivacaine administered before the incision or on completion of the surgical procedure.

METHODS: We performed a prospective double-blinded, randomized controlled trial that compared 3 parallel groups: the CONT group did not receive any block, the PRE group received bilateral superficial cervical plexus block before surgery while under general anesthesia, and the POST group received bilateral superficial cervical plexus block after surgery while under general anesthesia. The study included 111 patients (37 in each group). Postoperative pain was assessed every 4 hours by use of a 0 to 10 numeric rating scale. All patients received paracetamol every 6 hours. Morphine was administered following a standardized protocol if the numeric rating scale was 4 or higher. The main outcome variables were the proportion of patients given morphine during the 36 hours period, pain intensity scores, and morphine consumption.

RESULTS: No intergroup differences were observed in terms of percentage of patients who required morphine, morphine delivery, pain scores, and intraoperative opioid consumption.

CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral superficial cervical plexus block with 0.75% ropivacaine administered before or after surgery does not improve postoperative analgesia after total thyroidectomy.