Erector spinae plane block has been used as a promising non-opioid analgesic strategy for pain relief after various surgical procedures. As observed from this meta-analysis, these blocks help to provide postoperative pain relief, reduce postoperative opioid use and also lessen nausea and vomiting after surgery. 

This study compared the outcomes of erector spinae plane block vs no block intervention in patients who have undergone surgical procedures.

Google Scholar, PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were quantitatively reviewed from beginning through July 2019. The trials reporting either opioid intake or pain scores as postoperative pain outcomes were included in this study. The methodological quality of these studies was assessed via the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool.

A total of 679 patients in 13 randomized controlled trials across various surgical measures were involved. The use of erector spinae plane block depicted a noteworthy effect on lowering the postoperative opioid consumption, the weighted mean difference of − 8.84 IV mg morphine equivalents was observed. At 6 hours, the effect of erector spinae plane block on post-surgical pain than control depicted a noteworthy effect weighted mean difference of − 1.31. The weighted mean difference was found to be − 0.46 at 12 hours. No complications were reported.

This study provides moderate-quality evidence that erector spinae plane block is an effective approach for post-surgical analgesia as it offered significant improvements in reducing opioid analgesic use.