Abstract:Objective To investigate the effect of serratus anterior plane block on substance and energy metabolism and insulin resistance in patients undergoing thoracoscopic radical resection for lung cancer.Methods Sixty patients undergoing thoracoscopic radical resection for lung cancer under general anesthesia in our hospital from June 2018 to June 2020 were selected, and were randomly divided into the control group and the serratus anterior plane block group with the random number table method, with 30 patients in each group. The patients in the control group received general anesthesia, and the patients in the serratus anterior plane block group received ultrasound-guided serratus anterior plane block followed by general anesthesia. The mean blood pressure (BP) and the heart rate (HR) were recorded 5 minutes after admission (T0), before anesthesia induction (T1), at the time of skin incision making (T2) and at the end of the operation (T3). Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores at rest and during coughing were measured 6 h (T4), 12 h (T5), 24 h (T6) and 48 h (T7) after the operation. The level of C-reactive protein, resting energy expenditure (REE), respiratory quotient (RQ), and levels of triglyceride, blood glucose and insulin of patients in the two groups were detected at T0, T3, T6, and T7. The REE and RQ were measured by indirect calorimetry. The insulin resistance index (IRI) was calculated with the homeostatic model assessment. The level of triglyceride was detected via fully automated chemistry analyzer, while the level of C-reactive protein was measured via ELISA kits.Results There was no difference in sex composition, age, body mass index, the grade of American Society of Anesthesiologists, operative duration or intraoperative blood loss between the two groups (P > 0.05). Compared with the control group, the dosage of remifentanil was higher and the time to recovery of spontaneous breathing and extubation were shorter in the serratus anterior plane block group (P < 0.05). The BP at T0, T1, T2 and T3 in the two groups of patients were compared via repeated measures analysis of variance, which exhibited that BP was different among the time points (P < 0.05) and between the groups (P < 0.05), and that the change trends of BP were different between the two groups (P < 0.05). The HR at T0, T1, T2 and T3 in the two groups of patients were also compared via repeated measures analysis of variance, and the results demonstrated that HR was different among the time points (P < 0.05) and between the groups (P < 0.05). Specifically, HR at T2 and T3 in the serratus anterior plane block group was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Besides, the change trends of HR were different between the two groups (P < 0.05). The VAS scores at rest at T4, T5, T6 and T7 were compared via repeated measures analysis of variance, which showed that the VAS scores at rest were different among the time points (P < 0.05) and between the groups (P < 0.05), where VAS scores at rest at T4 and T5 in the serratus anterior plane block group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The change trends of VAS scores at rest were not different between the two groups (P > 0.05). The VAS scores during coughing at T4, T5, T6 and T7 in the two groups of patients were compared via repeated measures analysis of variance, and the results suggested that VAS scores during coughing were different among the time points (P < 0.05) and between the groups (P < 0.05), and that the VAS scores during coughing at T4 and T5 in the serratus anterior plane block group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The change trends of VAS scores during coughing were also different between the two groups (P < 0.05). The level of C-reactive protein, REE, RQ, the level of triglyceride, and IRI at T0, T3, T6 and T7 were compared via repeated measures analysis of variance, which indicated that these indicators were different among the time points (P < 0.05) and between the groups (P < 0.05), and that the change trends of these indicators were different between the groups (P < 0.05).Conclusions The serratus anterior plane block may mitigate the inflammation, improve the substance metabolism and REE, and alleviate the insulin resistance in patients undergoing thoracoscopic radical resection for lung cancer.