Introduction
Post-operative pain following cardiac surgery is a very important issue
for patients and affects recovery, risk of post-operative complications
and quality of life. Pain is known to arise not only from the surgical
approach itself, but also from chest drainage tubes placed through the
rectus abdominis muscle (1). Drugs commonly used to
treat moderate to severe pain are opioids that have multiple side
effects, such as nausea and vomiting, ileus, respiratory depression, and
sedation. A multimodal opioid-sparing analgesia
strategy(2) and the use of locoregional anesthesia
techniques(3) have been therefore suggested.
We report the case of an ultrasound-guided Pectoralis-Intercostal-Rectus
Sheath (PIRS) block used for a mediastinal revision.
In accordance with local guidelines, institutional review board approval
was waived, and the patient consented the use of his clinical data.