Ultrasound-guided Abdominal Wall Nerve Blockade in Laparoscopic Surgery for Acute Appendicitis.
Ultrasound-guided Abdominal Wall Nerve Blockade in Laparoscopic Surgery for Acute Appendicitis.
Acute appendicitis is a common disease and usually occurs within the ages of 10-30 years
 old." Ten percent of the population will get this disease during a lifetime." At Bispebjerg
 hospital it is one of the most common acute surgeries performed. Though at Bispebjerg
 hospital the surgery is only performed on adults as there is no pediatric ward. The surgical
 technique is primarily laparoscopic surgery, where the patients have their appendix removed
 while in general anaesthesia. During the last three years Bispebjerg hospital has had an
 average of 287 patients per year undergoing laparoscopic surgery. From January to the
 September 2012 a total of 211 patients have had the operation, with 29% having the operation
 performed during daytime, 48% in the evening and 22% at night. Open appendectomy is only
 performed in cases where laparoscopic surgery is impossible, this is often due to adhesions,
 scar tissue from former abdominal surgery or peritonitis. The scars from laparoscopic surgery
 are usually smaller than that from an open appendectomy, but it gives the patient three
 smaller scars divided on three abdominal quadrants instead of one larger scar on one
 quadrant.

 The investigators want to conduct a clinical trial with fifty six patients undergoing
 laparoscopic surgery due to acute appendicitis. The investigators want to find out if it is
 possible to improve the post-operative pain management within this very large group of
 patients undergoing acute surgery. In detail, the investigators wish to explore whether the
 use of the BD-TAP blockade in the abdominal wall on patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery
 due to acute appendicitis, can anesthetize the patients completely or partially, so they can
 avoid morphine intake completely or partially during the post-operative phase (12-24 hours).
 The research project will be a randomized, double-blinded, controlled clinical trial.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Age above 18 years

 -  Patients undergoing diagnostic laparoscopy for acute appendicitis

 -  American Society of Anaesthesiology group 1-3

 -  General Anaesthesia

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Inability to cooperate

 -  Inability to understand and talk danish

 -  Allergic to ropivacaine

 -  Drug and alcohol abuse

 -  Pregnancy or nursing