Wound Infiltration with Local Anesthetics versus Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Postoperative Pain Management in Gynecological Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Objective: Postoperative pain management significantly influences recovery speed, hospital stay duration, and healthcare costs. In light of inconsistencies in clinical trial outcomes, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of the Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) block compared to local anesthetic wound infiltration (WI) for postoperative pain management in gynecological surgery. Data sources: Systematic searches were conducted across PubMed/MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases to identify all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing TAP block and WI in adult patients undergoing gynecological surgical procedures. Additionally, the reference lists of the identified studies were manually reviewed. Only studies published in English were eligible for inclusion in the analysis. Methods of study selection: The Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) framework for the review included: (1) adult patients who underwent gynecological surgical procedures; (2) postoperative TAP block as the intervention; (3) comparison with local anesthetic wound infiltration; (4) primary outcome: postoperative pain at 1, 4, 12, and 24 hours; secondary outcomes: postoperative opioid consumption, opioid-related side effects and patient satisfaction. STATA software, version 18 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA), was used for the analysis. Tabulation, integration, and results: A total of 213 papers were initially identified. Of these, 10 RCTs encompassing a total of 604 patients met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis showed that in minimally invasive surgery TAP block was associated with lower pain scores at rest and 1, 4, 12, and 24 hours compared to the WI group. Furthermore, the TAP block resulted in a reduction in opioid consumption at 24 hours, although there was no significant difference in opioid-related adverse effects. Two studies presented data on patient-reported satisfaction, and a pooled analysis was not feasible due to heterogeneity. Conclusion: TAP block seems to provide better postoperative pain control after laparoscopic gynecologic procedures and reduces opioid use compared to WI in gynecologic surgery.