Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Specialist in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Ministry of Health, Iraq
Abstract
Background: Regional nerve block techniques offer a great degree of postoperative pain relief. Recently, the transabdominal plane (TAP) block has been utilized to put people to sleep for surgery on their abdomen and pelvis.
Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided TAP block compared to intramuscular tramadol for postoperative pain relief following cesarean section.
Patients and method: A comparative clinical trial study was conducted during the period from January 1 to April 30, 2025. The study included 200 patients who underwent elective cesarean section under general anaesthesia. Patients were randomly allocated TAP block group which included 100 patients who received an ultrasound-guided TAP block and tramadol injection group included 100 patients who received intramuscular tramadol. The data included patients registered pain scores at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours after surgery, the need for a second dose of analgesia, and the incidences of nausea and vomiting.
Results: The mean Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was significantly lower in the TAP block group compared to the tramadol injection group at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours postoperatively. The incidences of nausea and vomiting were significantly lower in the TAP block group than in the tramadol injection group.
Conclusion: The TAP block is more effective than intramuscular tramadol in reducing postoperative pain with fewer side effects. The TAP block is suggested to be used as part of multimodal approaches in the prevention and management of postoperative pain for patients undergoing cesarean section.
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