【Background】It is not reported in the literature about whether regional block for the pain of drain insertion site after cardiac surgery with median sternotomy is effective. We introduced the rectus sheath block to reduce the pain of drain insertion site after cardiac surgery with median sternotomy and assessed the effectiveness.
【Methods】To assess the effectiveness of the rectus sheath block to reduce the pain of drain insertion site, we compared the occurrence rate of over 4 within 24hours after surgery about numerical rating scale （NRS）between patients without the rectus sheath block（control group: n=230）and patients with the rectus sheath block（block group: n=130）.
【Results】There was no significant difference about the occurrence rate of NRS（over 4）within 24 hours after surgery between the block group（47.1％，n=66）and the control group（50.4％，n=116）（, p=0.539）However, regarding the number of patients who needed the fentanyl after surgery, block group（10.6％，n =14）had significantly lower number of patients compared with control group（23.8％，n=54）,（p=0.002）.
【Conclusions】In our study, the rectus sheath block was not able to significantly reduce the occurrence rate of NRS（over 4）within 24 hours after cardiac surgery through median sternotomy, but able significantly to reduce the number of patients who needed fentanyl after surgery. Thus, we think that the rectus sheath block can be effective to reduce the postoperative pain after cardiac surgery through median sternotomy.
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