Efficacy of Erector Spinae Plane Block on Analgesic Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Metabolic Surgery: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

This meta-analysis evaluated the analgesic efficacy of erector spinae plane block (ESPB) in metabolic surgery through analysis of ten randomized controlled trials (786 patients). ESPB demonstrated superior pain control compared to placebo from 2-12 h postoperatively, with peak effect at 6 h and sustained movement-related pain reduction through 24 h. ESPB showed comparable analgesic efficacy to other nerve blocks within 24 h postoperatively. The technique significantly reduced intraoperative and postoperative opioid consumption, extended time to first analgesic requirement, and decreased rescue analgesia needs. Additionally, ESPB recipients experienced reduced postoperative nausea and vomiting and shorter hospital stays. These findings support ESPB as an effective component of multimodal analgesia protocols for metabolic surgery, though standardization of techniques and long-term outcome studies are needed.