Context: Inguinal hernia surgeries are associated with moderate to severe pain postoperatively and various pain management strategies have been employed.

Aims: To compare the efficacy of US guided IIN/ILN block with US guided TAP block for postoperative pain management in adult patients undergoing inguinal herniorrhaphy under spinal anaesthesia.

Settings and Design: Prospective randomised double blinded study.

Methods and Material: Sixty adult patients undergoing inguinal herniorrhaphy under spinal anaesthesia were randomly allocated into two groups each having thirty patients: group T who received US guided TAP block after the surgery and group I who received USG IIN/IHN block after the surgery. The postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) was measured at 3,6,9,12, and 24 hours respectively. The time to first request for analgesia was recorded in the groups.

Statistical analysis used: Student’s t test (two tailed, independent) and Chi square /Fisher Exact test were used for statistical analysis.

Results: The mean VAS scale at rest in Group T at 6, 12 and 24 hours were 2.97±1.85,3.20±1.77 and 4.33±1.67 as compared to 1.57±0.86, 1.83±0.87 and 1.90±0.92 in group I respectively. The mean VAS on movement at 6, 12 and 24 hours in group T were 3.57±2.22 , 4.40±1.83 and 5.23±1.55 respectively as compared to, 2.40±1.00, 3.37±1.35 and 2.70±1.26 respectively in Group I. The mean time to first analgesia was 7.10±3.94 hours in group T as compared to 10.15±4.44 hours in group I.

Conclusions: US guided IIN/IHN block provides better analgesia and longer duration of analgesia compared to ultrasound guided TAP block for inguinal heriorrhaphy.