Effects of ultrasound-guided stellate ganglion block on acute pain after arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Apart from a few case reports, the effectiveness of stellate ganglion block (SGB) as a monotherapy in acute nociceptive pain has not been determined. We aimed to assess the effects of SGB on postoperative pain after arthroscopic shoulder surgery. STUDY DESIGN Randomized, blind, controlled, clinical trial SETTING University Hospital outpatient METHODS Forty-six patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery were assigned randomly to 2 groups: group S included patients who underwent SGB prior to surgery and group C did not. In group S, subfascial ultrasound-guided SGB was conducted with 4 mL of 0.375% levobupivacaine. For the first postoperative 48 hours, postoperative visual analog scale (VAS) and analgesic requirements were compared. RESULTS The results of 40 patients were included in the study. There was no difference between groups with regards to analgesics requirement for the first postoperative 48 hours and no difference in VAS score (P > 0.05). LIMITATIONS Small number of patients in study. CONCLUSION Preoperative ultrasound-guided SGB did not reduce postoperative acute pain in arthroscopic shoulder surgery.