Gintarė Iveta Semėnaitė¹, Dominyka Martinėlytė¹

¹Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Academy of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania 

Background. Regional anaesthesia and pain management have experienced advances in recent years. Erector spinae plane block (ESPB) is one of the newest recently described methods. There has been a significant increase in ESPB-related publications over the past few years.  The aim of this review was to evaluate technique and indications of ESPB. The PubMed, Cochrane Library and UpToDate databases were searched. Based on the analysed literature data, the most important advantages of ESPB are simple technique and wide range of use. This method is performed using an in-plane ultrasound-guided technique and is successfully used to provide analgesia for a variety of surgical procedures on the anterior, posterior, lateral thoracic and abdominal walls. Also in acute or chronic pain management. It is a paraspinal fascial plane block in which the needle placement is between the erector spinae muscle and the thoracic transverse processes, and a local anaesthetic is administered, blocking the dorsal and ventral rami of the thoracic and abdominal spinal nerves. Complications are rare because the site of injection is far from the pleura, major blood vessels, and the spinal cord. However, not many studies have been performed to evaluate the safety, frequency and efficiency of this method. Despite the  positive evaluation of technique, further studies are necessary to obtain more evidence of its effectiveness.

Keywords: erector spinae plane block, regional anaesthesia, pain.