Background and Aims Arthroscopic shoulder surgery is associated with moderate/severe postoperative pain, which may prevent rehabilitation of patients and increase hospital stay. Erector spinae plane block (ESPB) is a block in which different levels of local anesthetic (LA) are applied between the erector spinae muscle and the transverse process of the vertebrae. We aimed to present the analgesic effect of the block in the first 24 hours postoperatively in 10 patients to whom we applied ESPB at T2-T3 level for analgesia in shoulder surgery.

Methods Patients written consent was obtained. Ultrasound guided ESPB was performed at T2-T3 level in 10 patients with ASA I, II who will undergo shoulder surgery under general anesthesia. Anesthesia was maintained with sevoflurane-air and remifentanil iv infusion according to hemodynamic parameters. Paracetamol, dexketoprofen iv was administered to the patients in the perioperative period. Patients 0, 1, 6, 12, 24 h, NRS scores were recorded.

Results Ten patients aged 33-75 (male/female = 5/5; mean age = 58.3 [SD = 16.5] ) were included in the case series. The distribution of sensory nerve blockade varied between C2 and C7 in the anterolateral region, between T2 and T7 in the posterior region. The mean surgical time was 85.4 minutes. The mean consumption of remifentanil was 81.4 μg (0-210). The PACU, 1st, 6th, 12th, 24th hour NRS scores of the patients were between 2 and 4.

Conclusions ESPB in shoulder surgery reduced intraoperative opioid consumption and postoperative NRS scores. We think that ESPB could be a part of multimodal analgesia in shoulder arthroscopy surgeries.