Randomized Comparison of Anesthetic Techniques

Eligible patients were randomly assigned to the three groups: the general anesthesia (GA) group, the RIB group, and the PVB group. A statistician who was not involved in the data analysis prepared a computer-generated list of random numbers and sealed them in separate envelopes. The list of random numbers determines the allocation.
The study coordinators, attending anesthesiologists and postoperative follow-up personnel, and the patients were all blinded to the group assignment. Anesthesia induction and nerve blocks for all patients were performed by a group of independent experienced anesthesiologists in the preanesthesia room according to the random number before the operation (the GA group, only performed induction). Afterwards, the patients were transferred to the operating room to start the operation. In PACU, the block dermatome region is defined before the patients leave the operation room. The postoperative analgesia regimen comprises an infusion of flurbiprofen and patient-controlled intravenous sufentanil. Demographic data and surgical and anesthetic data were recorded. Postoperative VAS scores, consumption of opioids, and QoR15 scores were documented to estimate the analgesic effect. The recruitment of subjects is depicted in Figure 1.