Erector spinae plane block (ESPB) for intractable, non-surgical abdominal pain: a scoping review

Meyer, Ashley; Haley, Campbell Belisle; Razzak, Eisa; Santos, Amanda Dos; Dornhofer, Kyle; Hsu, Edmund; Saadat, Soheil; Fox, John Christian; Guy, Megan

doi:.0..

Clin Exp Emerg Med > Accepted Articles

Brief Review

doi: https://doi.org/10.15441/ceem.23.171 [Accepted]

Erector spinae plane block (ESPB) for intractable, non-surgical abdominal pain: a scoping review

Ashley Meyer¹

, Campbell Belisle Haley²

, Eisa Razzak³, Amanda Dos Santos², Kyle Dornhofer², Edmund Hsu², Soheil Saadat², John Christian Fox², Megan Guy²

¹University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine
²University of California, Irvine, Department of Emergency Medicine
³Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

Correspondence Megan Guy Email: guym@hs.uci.edu

Received: December 3, 2023. Revised: February 22, 2024. Accepted: February 24, 2024. Published online: March 15, 2024.

ABSTRACT

Abdominal pain is one of the most common presenting chief complaints in the emergency department (ED). Erector spinae plane block (ESPB) is an ultrasound-guided nerve block with proven effectiveness in treating visceral and somatic abdominal pain. Despite the increasing popularity of ESPB, its role in the management of non-surgical abdominal pain has not yet been characterized. Our scoping review aims to review the current literature on the safety and efficacy of ESPB in the management of patients experiencing intractable, non-surgical abdominal pain. We searched PubMed and Scopus to evaluate the existing literature on ESPB for non-surgical abdominal pain. Reviewers screened 30 titles and abstracts that met the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Following initial screening, 24 articles underwent full-text review. Two reviewers also screened references included in each study. A total of 14 journal articles were reviewed, including 12 case-based studies, one systematic review, and one narrative review of ESPB in the treatment of non-surgical abdominal pain. All cases described the successful use of ESPB in treating abdominal pain refractory to oral or intravenous analgesic medications, and each case reported no complications. This scoping review provides support for ESPB in the management of intractable, non-surgical abdominal pain. ESPB demonstrates efficacy in alleviating various conditions such as functional abdominal pain, renal colic, pancreatitis, herpetic pain, and cancer-related pain. Theoretical risks such as pneumothorax, bleeding, and infection are possible, although the studies reviewed did not report such complications.

Keywords: abdominal pain, erector spinae plane block, nerve block, ultrasound, regional anesthesia