Papers of the Week

Major abdominal surgery often requires postoperative opioid analgesia. However, there is growing recognition of the potential for abuse. We previously reported a significant reduction in opioid consumption after implementation of an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol following ventral hernia repair (VHR) focusing on opioid reduction. Epidural use was routine for post-operative pain control in this protocol. Recently we have transitioned to transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block instead of epidural analgesia. We hypothesize this modification reduces length of stay (LOS) and lowers opioid usage in VHR.