As per the outcomes of a recent study issued in 'BMC Pulmonary Medicine', the use of Rhomboid intercostal block alongwith sub-serratus plane block (RISS) was found to outweigh the benefits of ultrasound-guided Rhomboid intercostal block (RIB) alone in terms of providing pain relief and the need of sufentanil after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS).

All in all, 90 patients in age group- 18 to 80 years scheduled for elective unilateral VATS were randomly designated into 3 groups to study analyze the postoperative analgesic effects of these blocks after VATS:

• Group RIB: Ultrasound-guided RIB plus 20-mL 0.375% ropivacaine
• Group RISS: Ultrasound-guided RIB alongwith serratus plane block using a 40-mL 0.375% ropivacaine
• Group C: No block

All the patients were subjected to intravenous sufentanil patient-controlled analgesia after the surgery. Also, a comparison of pain scores (via Numerical Rating Scale (NRS)) and sufentanil consumption was done.

After 24 hours, the use of sufentanil doses in RIB and RISS groups were significantly lower as compared to group C. Both the groups had significantly lower NRS scores at 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours postoperatively than group C. Patients in RISS group had lesser dosage of sufentanil, time to first postoperative analgesic request and lower NRS scores than RIB group at 24 hours.

As concluded, patients on RISS block had longer analgesic effects and fewer complaints of pain. Of particular interest, these patients needed lesser doses of sufentanil than RIB group.