Regional Anesthesia for Cardiothoracic Enhanced Recovery (RACER) Study

Regional Anesthesia for Cardiothoracic Enhanced Recovery (RACER) for Patients Undergoing Sternotomy for Congenital Heart Repair

The erector spinae plane block is a novel regional anesthetic technique that allows for analgesia of the thorax and abdomen with a peripheral nerve block. The goals of this study are to determine if bilateral erector spinae plane blocks (ESPB) after sternotomy for congenital heart repair in high risk children and adults can decrease outcomes such as duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation (MV), perioperative opioid consumption, days in the intensive care unit (ICU) and length of stay (LOS).

Inclusion Criteria:

i) Ages 0-99 ii) Give consent/parental consent to participate in study iii) Patients undergoing sternotomy for congenital heart repair surgeries

Exclusion Criteria:

i) Participants who do not consent or have parental consent ii) Patients who are clinically unstable or require urgent/emergent intervention iii) Patients under 5kg