Pain is a concerning problem in patients with open inguinal hernia repair. Hence, multi modal analgesia is recommended to overcome this issue. Therefore this randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound guided Ilioinguinal/Iliohyphogastric nerve block vs. local anaesthetic infiltration of wound with Ropivacaine on postoperative pain after open repair of unilateral inguinal hernia in adults.~This study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi.It is a Randomised controlled trial conducted from March 2019 to October 2019. 60 participants for elective unilateral open inguinal hernia repair were included. Patients were randomly allocated (30 each) to one of the two groups. Group I received ILI/IHG nerve block where 20mls 0.25% Ropivacaine was infiltrated around the nerves under U/S guidance, and group II received local anaesthetic infiltration (Ropivacaine 20mls 0.25%) at the end of surgery at the incision site to provide postoperative analgesia. Postoperative pain at rest (static) and on movement (dynamic) was assessed on VRS scale at 0= no pain , 1-3=mild pain, 4-6=moderate pain, 7-10=severe pain at 0, 2,6, 12, 24 hours, either in person or telephone. Total tramadol consumption and time for first tramadol requirement was noted.~In addition complications related to IHG block and LA infiltration were observed.Patient satisfaction was also gauged by the LIKERT scale in the questionairre.
This study was conducted to assess the postoperative painscores in patients undergoing open inguinal hernia repair between two groups receiving either U/S guided ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerves block with Ropivacaine or wound infiltration with Ropivacaine.The safety of two analgesic interventions(ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerves blocks and wound infiltration) was measured alongwith comparison of opioid use between the two groups over 24 hours postoperatively was made. Patient satisfaction between the two groups was also assessed by the Likert scale.