Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted between April 2019 and January 2021 with 60 patients who underwent thoracotomy and surgical resection for non-small cell lung cancer
Results: The median length of stay was 4 days for both the EC and PC groups (p = 0.608). Complications occurred in 11 patients (18.3%) overall, including 5 patients in the PC group (16.7%) and 6 patients in the EC group (20%). The complication rate did not differ significantly between the groups (p = 0.739). The most common complication was prolonged air leak (n = 9, 15%). Mean postoperative pain scores were lower in the EC group than in the PC group on the first 4 days and at 2 weeks (p < 0.05). While there was no difference between the two groups in terms of neuropathic pain at 6 months, an analysis of quality of life showed that the PC group experienced more perceived pain.
Conclusions: The EC technique was associated with less thoracotomy pain in the early postoperative period. However, it was not found to affect neuropathic pain in the long term.
