Abstract:Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of opioid-sparing general anesthesia combined with paravertebral nerve block for thoracoscopic segmentectomy.Methods Eighty-two patients undergoing thoracoscopic segmentectomy at Nantong Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital between June 2020 and June 2024 were enrolled. Patients were divided into a control group (undergoing general anesthesia) and an experimental group (undergoing general anesthesia combined with paravertebral nerve block), with 41 patients in each group. The two groups were compared in terms of hemodynamic parameters, remifentanil dosage, time to recovery, time to spontaneous breathing recovery, pain status, stress response, and complications.Results Comparisons of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) between the experimental and control groups before anesthesia and at induction and intubation (T1), skin incision (T2), and extubation (T3) revealed that they were different among the time points (P < 0.05) and between the groups (P < 0.05), where MAP and HR in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group at T1 to T3 (P < 0.05). The change trends of MAP and HR were also different between the two groups (P < 0.05). The experimental group exhibited lower remifentanil dosage, shorter time to recovery, and earlier recovery of spontaneous breathing compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Comparisons of visual analogue scale (VAS) scores at rest and during coughing at 4, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively revealed that they were different across the time points (P < 0.05) and between the two groups (P < 0.05), and that the experimental group exhibited lower VAS scores at rest and during coughing than the control group at 4 hours postoperatively, and lower VAS scores during coughing at 24 hours postoperatively (P < 0.05). Besides, the change trends of VAS scores at rest and during coughing were different between the groups (P < 0.05). The experimental group exhibited fewer analgesic pump presses within 24 hours postoperatively than the control group (P < 0.05). Comparisons of levels of noradrenaline (NE), adrenaline (E), insulin (INS), and cortisol (Cor) before surgery, and 1 day and 3 days after surgery in the experimental and control groups revealed that they were different across the time points (P < 0.05) and between the two groups (P < 0.05), where NE, E, INS, and Cor levels 1 day and 3 days after surgery in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The change trends of NE, E, INS, and Cor levels were also different between the groups (P < 0.05). The overall complication rate was lower in the experimental group than in the control group (P < 0.05).Conclusion Combined general anesthesia with paravertebral nerve block during thoracoscopic segmentectomy maintains stable hemodynamics, reduces anesthetic drug dosage, and optimizes pain management, thereby decreasing physiological stress and the risk of complications.