Erector Spinae Plan Block (ESPB) with Dexmedetomidine and Dexamethasone in Lumbar Spine Fusion

This study wants to understand if using a pre-operative anesthetic injection could contribute to better pain relief after the surgery. This injection is referred to as an erector spinae plane block (ESPB, or "Block" for short). In the past, blocks have been commonly used to alleviate different types of pain, including pain following lumbar spine surgery, but our investigators are curious to study if adding two additional commonly used drugs could improve pain relief following surgery when used together. This possibility for improvement in pain management is important for our doctors to study because they want to find ways to reduce the amount of pain medication required after surgery.

We try to assess if one treatment is better than the other by looking into the amount of pain medication used immediately after the surgery (up to five times within the first 2 days; this is usually done by reviewing progress notes) and by asking patients if they can share with us their pain experienced at different times during their stay at the hospital and at 2-weeks after their procedure.