POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIC EFFICACY OF TRANSVERSUS ABDOMINIS PLANE BLOCK WITH CLONIDINE AFTER LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the gold standard for the treatment of symptomatic gallbladder diseases such as cholecystitis and cholelithiasis and it is the most performed procedure in general surgery with more than 1.5 million cholecystectomies performed annually in the United States. The reasons behind the increasing number of laparoscopic surgeries are improved postoperative pain and improved healing time as compared to open cholecystectomy resulting in earlier recovery and discharge from the hospitals. However, even if it is considered a minimally invasive technique, the intensity of pain on the first postoperative day is significant. Appropriate pain control is essential for optimizing the clinical outcomes and to ensure the patient can walk as early as possible after surgery. © EuroMediterranean Biomedical Journal 2018.