This study compares two pain control techniques in patients undergoing laparoscopic kidney donation surgery: transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block versus wound infiltration with local anesthetic.
Postoperative pain can impair breathing by causing patients to take shallow breaths to avoid discomfort. This study will evaluate which technique better preserves lung function, specifically peak expiratory flow (PEF), after surgery.
Eighty patients will be randomly assigned to receive either a TAP block (injection of local anesthetic into the abdominal wall muscles before surgery) or wound infiltration (injection of local anesthetic at the incision sites at the end of surgery). Both patients and the staff measuring outcomes will be blinded to group assignment.
The primary outcome is the percentage change in PEF from before surgery to discharge from the recovery room. Secondary outcomes include pain scores, opioid use, breathing complications, and length of hospital stay.
Patients who are scheduled to undergo elective LLDN.
Age above 18 years.
Body Mass Index (BMI) above 20 and below 40 kg m-2.
Eligible to sign informed consent.
Open or hand-assisted surgery.
Known cardiac or pulmonary disease.
Preoperative chronic pain (i.e., fibromyalgia, chronic neuropathic pain).
Contraindication for regional analgesia (i.e., known allergy to LA, skin lesions in the injection site).