{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T12:54:43Z","timestamp":1781873683520,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,28]],"date-time":"2022-05-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1653696000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study tested the hypothesis that pectoralis II (PECS II) + serratus plane blocks would reduce opioid consumption and improve outcomes compared with standard practice in minimally invasive cardiac surgery. A retrospective and observational study was realized in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting of \u201cICLAS GVM, Istitituto Clinico Ligure Alta Specialit\u00e0, (Rapallo, Italy)\u201d, including adult patients who underwent right minithoracotomy for replacement\/plastic aortic, mitral and tricuspid valve or atrial myxoma resection in cardiac surgery. Seventy-eight patients were extracted by the database and divided into two groups. Group 1 (41 patients) received ultrasound-guided PECS II + serratus plane blocks with Ropivacaine 0.25% 10 mL + 20 mL + 30 mL. Group 2 (37 patients) received intravenous opioids analgesia with morphine 20\u201325 mg\/day or tramadol 200\u2013300 mg\/day. The primary outcomes were: the pain perceived: Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) score; the opioids consumption: mg morphine or tramadol, or \u00b5g sufentanyl administered; and mg paracetamol, toradol, tramadol or morphine administered as a rescue. The secondary outcomes were the hours of orotracheal intubation and of stay in ICU, and the number of episodes of nausea, vomiting, delayed awakening and respiratory depression. Group 1 vs. Group 2 consumed less opioids (Sufentanyl p &lt; 0.0001; Morphine p &lt; 0.0001), had a lower pain perceived (p = 0.002 at 6 h, p = 0.0088 at 12 h, p &lt; 0.0001 at 24 h), need for rescue analgesia (p = 0.0005), episodes of nausea and vomiting (p = 0.0237) and intubation time and ICU stay (p = 0.0147 time of IOT, p &lt; 0.0001 stay in ICU). Ultrasound-guided PECS II + serratus plane blocks demonstrated better than intravenous opioids analgesia in patients undergoing minimally invasive cardiac surgery.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life12060805","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,29]],"date-time":"2022-05-29T08:50:51Z","timestamp":1653814251000},"page":"805","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Ultrasound-Guided PECS II + Serratus Plane Fascial Blocks Are Associated with Reduced Opioid Consumption and Lengths of Stay for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery: An Observational Retrospective Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Debora Emanuela","family":"Torre","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiac Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, Cardiac Surgery, Ospedale dell\u2019Angelo, 30174 Venice Mestre, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0119-6549","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carmelo","family":"Pirri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences, Institute of Human Anatomy, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marialuisa","family":"Contristano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICLAS, GVM, Istitituto Clinico Ligure, Alta Specialit\u00e0, 16035 Rapallo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Astrid Ursula","family":"Behr","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Operative Unit of Anesthesia and Resuscitation, Hospital of Camposampiero, 35012 Camposampiero, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2307-0277","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raffaele","family":"De Caro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences, Institute of Human Anatomy, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8767-4555","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carla","family":"Stecco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences, Institute of Human Anatomy, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"356","DOI":"10.1016\/j.athoracsur.2013.09.090","article-title":"The minithoracotomy approach: A safe and effective alternative for heart valve surgery","volume":"97","author":"Mariscalco","year":"2014","journal-title":"Ann. 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