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.