RESULTS
The study included 51 patients. 11 patients were excluded due to varying reasons. Each of the two groups included 20 patients (Figure 2).
The mean age of the patients was 38.88±12.67 years and 62.5% (n=25) were male. The mean ages of the two groups were 35.95±12.36 and 41.80±12.60, respectively. The vital parameters of the patients at the admittance did not differ at a statistically significant between the groups (p>0.05). Other demographics and baseline characteristics of the patients are presented (Table 1).
Pain scores of the patients are shown in Table 2. The VAS of the patients at the admittance was 96.25±6.15 for group NSAID and 98.60±3.03 for group ESP. There was not a statistically significant difference between the groups (p=0.429). VAS scores were significantly lower in the ESP group compared to the NSAID group at 5., 15., 30., 45. and 60. minutes (p<0.001).
The need for opioid analgesics was significantly lower in Group ESP when compared to the group NSAID (0/20 versus 10/20, respectively, p<0.001). Patient satisfaction was significantly higher in the ESP group than NSAID group (p<0.001) (Table 3). No adverse event occurred in any of the patients in the study.