The benefit of bilateral inferior alveolar nerve block in managing postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after mandibular osteotomy

Introduction: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the benefit of bilateral inferior alveolar nerve block (BIANB) in managing postoperative pain, nausea and vomiting and opioid and antiemetic consumption in mandibular osteotomy.

Material and methods: 51 patients operated for bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) were included in this prospective randomized controlled, double-blind, superiority trial. In the first group (n = 25), standard protocol was applied (general anesthesia and postoperative multimodal analgesia). The second group (n = 26) received bilateral inferior alveolar nerve block anesthesia at the start of surgery in addition to routine protocol. Postoperative monitoring was conducted every 4 h over the first 24 h and targeted the following criteria: postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, consumption of morphine (cumulative dose) and antiemetic agents, need for removal of guiding elastics.

Results: PONV was significantly lower in the BIANB group (15.4 % VS 40 %, p = 0.049), as were mean VAS scores for pain (1 VS 1.57, p = 0.045) and medians of morphine bolus (8 [6-16] VS 5.5 [1-8], p = 0.033). We found no significant difference in incidence of guiding elastic removal, and antiemetic consumption.

Discussion: The use of BIANB in BSSO improved postoperative patient comfort in terms of PONV and pain. Furthermore, it led to a decrease in opioid consumption. In conclusion, it is an additional therapeutic means of improving patients' postoperative comfort.