Please confirm that an ethics committee approval has been applied for or granted: Yes: I’m uploading the Ethics Committee Approval as a PDF file with this abstract submission

Background and Aims In our study, we aimed to retrospectively compare the postoperative pain levels of cases where preoperative erector spinae plane(ESP)block was applied for lumbar disc herniation surgery with and without the addition of dexamethasone as an adjuvant.

Methods 60 patients were included in the study and divided into three groups.The first group received erector spinae plane (ESP) block with only bupivacaine(GESPB),the second group received ESP block with the addition of 4 mg dexamethasone to bupivacaine(GESPBD),and the third group served as the control group(GK)without any block.Parameters such as heart rate, blood pressures were recorded before and during surgery.Parameters such as heart rate,blood pressures were recorded before and during surgery.Total opioid consumption in the 24 hours postoperatively and postoperative pain were recorded at regular intervals with Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) scores.

Results GESPBD and GESPB had significantly lower postoperative heart rates than GK.There was no significant difference in postoperative heart rate between GESPBD and GESPB.In GESPBD and GESPB, systolic blood pressure at 1th hour, 2th hours, and postoperatively was significantly lower than in GK The first analgesia requirement hour in GESPBD and GESPB was significantly higher than in GK.The rate of paracetamol-NSAID-opioid usage in GESPBD and GESPB was significantly lower than in GK.

Conclusions In patients who received erector spinae plane (ESP) block,intraoperative hemodynamics were more stable, and postoperative pain scores were lower.Compared to the control group, these patients had a delayed onset of postoperative analgesia needs, and opioid usage was reduced.We found that adding dexamethasone as an adjuvant did not have a significant impact.