Effects of bupivacaine wound infiltration and transversus abdominus plane block on healing and postoperative adhesion of colonic anstomosis in rats

Background: Effective pain management following surgery is crucial for facilitating a prompt and successful recovery. Epidural anesthesia, peripheral nerve blocks, and local infiltration anesthesia are used for this purpose. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of bupivacaine infiltration anesthesia and transversus abdominus plane (TAP) block, both commonly used for postoperative pain management, on colon anastomosis. This study also examined whether it affects abdominal incision wound healing and postoperative adhesions. Methods: The current study involved 21 rats. The rats were divided into three groups, with seven rats in each. In this study, the participants were divided into three groups: Group C, I and T. Group C underwent laparotomy followed by colon anastomosis. Group I received laparotomy, colon anastomosis and bupivacaine infiltration. Group T underwent laparotomy, colon anastomosis, and transverse abdominus oblique muscle intervention. Wound tension strength (WTS), anastomosis burst pressure (ABP), and colon hydroxyproline levels were measured. The macroscopic adhesion score was detected. Histopathological examinations of the colon and wound were conducted. Results: The mean WTS for Group T was statistically significantly higher than Group C (p = 0.035). Wound Histopathology Score (WHS), Colon Histopathology Score (CHS), Colon hydroxyproline (COHP), and ABP values of the rats in the groups (respectively; p = 0.154/0.538/0.999/0.178). Conclusions: There are limited studies in the literature showing the effects of central blocks on direct colonic anastomosis. However, no studies were found on the effects of TAP block and local infiltration anesthesia (LIA) on postoperative colonic anastomosis. This study found that TAP block and LIA did not significantly affect colon anastomosis. Additionally, the TAP block demonstrated a statistically significant favorable impact on the healing of abdominal wounds. Our study suggests that TAP block may be more effective than LIA as a postoperative analgesic modality for colon surgery in terms of abdominal wound healing.

Transversus abdominus; Plane block; Infiltration anesthesia; Bupivacaine; Colon

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