Effect of Erector Spinae (ESP) Block on Opioid Reduction and Enhanced Recovery After Posterior Cervical Spine Surgery

Patients undergoing spine surgery frequently experience significant pain after surgery. This can limit patient activity and hinder rehabilitation. If inadequately treated, severe pain can result in emotional and psychological distress and ultimately impact long-term function, and increase the risk of developing pain that lasts longer than six months associated with depression, anxiety and disability. More specifically, Erector Spinae Plane (ESP) block is a recently described plane block designed to block the dorsal and ventral rami of the thoracic spinal nerves. It has shown to be an effective modality for postoperative pain management as a part of multimodal analgesia in spinal surgery.