Abstract
Background: Chronic postherniorrhaphy groin pain (CPGP) is a debilitating condition, which is often refractory to conservative medical management. To our knowledge, there have been no studies directly comparing landmarked-based and ultrasound-guided approaches in this population.Objective: To compare the effectiveness of landmark-based and ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve blocks in the treatment of CPGP.Study design: This is a retrospective chart review of patients who presented to our tertiary care pain medicine clinic with a diagnosis of CPGP. Inclusion criteria were the following: age 18 years, diagnosis of groin pain, and prior history of herniorrhaphy. Exclusion criteria included those who were seen for initial consultation but were lost to follow-up. Primary outcomes were 50% or greater reduction in pain on visual analog scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes were 30% or greater reduction in VAS pain score, changes in VAS pain scores, and reported complications. Results: A total of 36 patients were included in the study. Of them, 20 patients underwent the landmark-based and 16 underwent the ultrasound-guided techniques. There was no significant difference in baseline demographics. The average VAS score preinjection was 7.08 in the landmark-based and 7.0 in the ultrasound-guided groups (P=0.65). A total of 14 patients (70%) in the landmark-based and eleven patients (79%) in the ultrasound-guided groups experienced at least a 50% reduction in VAS scores. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P=1.0), and no complications were noted. We also did not find a significant difference in terms of number of patients with 30% or greater reduction (P=0.71) and changes in VAS pain scores (P=0.64). No complications were reported in either group.Conclusion: In our study, there was no statistically significant difference between the landmark-based and ultrasound-guided groups in terms of a reduction in VAS pain scores, and no complications were noted in either group.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | A75 |
Pages (from-to) | 767-770 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Pain Research |
Volume | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2015 |
Keywords
- Abdominal wall
- Anatomic landmarks
- Intramuscular injections
- Ultrasound
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine