Limitations of the Erector Spinae Plane (ESP) block for radical mastectomy

The Erector Spinae Plane (ESP) block, which was first described by Forero in 2016, is currently receiving a lot of attention [1,2]. The ESP block anesthetizes the ventral and dorsal rami of thoracic and lumbar nerves. The technique involves injection a local anesthetic in the plane between the erector spinae muscle and the spinal transverse processes. It has been reported to induce effective analgesia for several surgeries, especially thoracic surgery [1]. The ESP block has also been reported to induce effective analgesia in the perioperative pain management of breast surgeries [3]; however it was not reported to achieve adequate analgesia for breast cancer surgeries.
Source: Journal of Clinical Anesthesia - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research