Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Pectus excavatum repair by the Nuss procedure results in severe postoperative pain. Regional blocks and intercostal nerve cryoablation (INC) have emerged as potential strategies to manage analgesia. This study compares pain-related outcomes following these perioperative interventions. METHODS: We reviewed charts of patients <18 y who underwent the Nuss procedure at Duke Children's Hospital from July 2018 to June 2022. Patients were divided into three groups by analgesic strategy: no block, regional catheters, or INC, representing the chronologic change in our practice. The primary outcome was total and daily in-hospital opioid utilization measured by oral morphine equivalents (OMEs). Secondary outcomes included average daily pain scores, length of stay, opioid refills after discharge, and complications. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients were included and analyzed: no block (n = 6), regional catheters (n = 7), and INC (n = 8). INC-treated patients required significantly lower total postoperative, in-hospital OMEs (64 ± 47 [mean ± standard deviation]) than those with no block (270 ± 217, P = 0.04) or those with regional catheters (273 ± 176, P = 0.03). INC was associated with longer average operative times (161 ± 36 min) than no block (105 ± 21 min, P = 0.005) or regional catheters (90 ± 11 min, P < 0.001). INC-treated patients had shorter hospital length of stays (median 68 h) than those with regional catheters (median 74 h, P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: INC was associated with longer operative times but decreased in-hospital OMEs when compared to bilateral regional block catheters and multimodal analgesia alone.