Comparison of Postoperative Pain in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy with and without Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) Block: A Prospective Comparative Study
Abstract
Background: Effective pain management in early postoperative period improves outcomes. TAP block is an adjunctive procedure for postoperative analgesia. Objective: To compare the outcomes of TAP vs Non-TAP Block in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Materials and Methods: It is a prospective observational comparative cohort study of two patient groups undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The study was conducted at the Department of Surgery, Liaquat College of Medicine & Dentistry, Karachi, from 5th August 2025 to 4th February 2026, after the approval from institutional review board (Ref. No. IRB/M-000133-25), dated: 4th August 2025. The sample size was calculated using a power analysis for comparing two independent means (TAP Block vs. Non-TAP Block). Inclusion criteria had patients aged 18–60 years & exclusion criteria consisted of patients with acute cholecystitis, empyema, perforated gall bladder ASA of ≥ 3. All the LC were performed by same surgeon. Patients' postoperative pain was assessed 12 hours after LC in terms of VAS Score and time for rescue analgesia. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 30.0. Results: The mean age among patients in this study was 46.15 ± 8.92 years.73.3% patients were female while 26.7% patients were male. The groups showed similar outcomes like age, gender distribution, duration of symptoms and BMI. Mean VAS score in TAP block group 12 hours after surgery was 2.80 ± 1.54 while in non-TAP block group was 6.13 ± 1.73 (p < 0.0001). Mean time rescue analgesia in TAP block group was 13.92 ± 6.74 hours vs non-TAP block group was 4.77 ± 2.79 hours (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The study concludes that administration of TAP block following LC is associated with significantly reduced postoperative VAS Scores and prolonged time to rescue analgesia. Keywords: Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy, Post-operative pain, TAP block, Gallbladder, Post-operative opioid consumption, Visual analog scale, ERAS.