Postoperative Pain Scores and Opioid Consumption in Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery

Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a type of minimally invasive thoracic surgery (MITS) procedure used for diagnosis or treatment of chest pathologies (pulmonary, mediastinal, chest wall). Most main procedures traditionally performed by open thoracotomy can be performed with smaller incisions using video support. While being less invasive in comparison to open surgery options, thoracoscopic surgery may damage the intercostal nerve and damages muscles. Also it provokes soft tissue edema at the incision area. Therefore, pain can be more intense than expected after thoracoscopic procedures. Post-operation pain is not just an acute problem; 20% of the patients develop chronic incision pain after a thoracic surgery. particiants hypothesis is that continue ESP block catheter application is non-inferior than epidural catheter application in the first post-operative 48 hours regarding post-operative pain relief. The purpose of this study is to invertigate the effects of TEA and ESPB on post-operative pain in patients undergoing VATS.