welcomes you to the new, improved website!In the EPOCH CardioLink-10 trial, 318 adults undergoing cardiac surgery via median sternotomy were included in a modified intention-to-treat analysis across four Canadian centers. Patients received bilateral superficial parasternal intercostal plane blocks with 0.2 percent ropivacaine or placebo via indwelling catheters for 48 hours. Ropivacaine reduced cumulative opioid use at 72 hours vs the placebo, with mean use of 122.8 vs 145.9 morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) and a least-squares mean difference of −20.7 MMEs (95 percent confidence interval (CI) −39.0 to −2.3, p=0.027). Pain scores, opioid use to discharge, delirium, Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15), intensive care unit stay, and hospital stay were similar. No serious block-related complications occurred. The authors conclude that bilateral superficial parasternal intercostal plane (SPIP) blockade with ropivacaine may be a pragmatic option for sternotomy pain management with lower opioid consumption after cardiac surgery.
You are here:
Superficial Parasternal Intercostal Plane Block With Ropivacaine Versus Placebo for Opioid Exposure After Cardiac Surgery (EPOCH CardioLink-10): A Multicentre, Double-Blind, Randomised Trial
Submitted by: Vincent Sier
Source: The Lancet
Author(s): Ahmad Alli, C. David Mazer, Fallon Dennis, Hwee Teoh, Kyle Chin, Adrian Quan, S. M. Ali Hassan, Michael Szarek, John D. Tran, Nitish K. Dhingra, Juan P. Ghiringhelli, Fábio de Vasconcelos Papa, Youngseo Lee, Michael J. Ricci, Raj Verma, Kendra L. Derry, Thomas George, Aishwarya Krishnaraj, David A. Hess, Ori D. Rotstein, Richard C. Cook, Ansar Hassan, Terrence M. Yau, Jessica D. Spence, Pawel M. Martinka, Korey Sutherland, Alexander J. Gregory, Christopher D. Noss, Pieter de Jager, James L. Dougherty, Rakesh C. Arora, Subodh Verma
