Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of bilateral erector spinae plane block(ESPB) on early postoperative rehabilitation of patients with gastric cancer after comparison with continuous epidural analgesia. 
Methods A total of 60 patients undergoing elective laparoscopic radical gastrectomy were randomly divided into block group(group B, n=30) and epidural group(group E, n=30). They were American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) grade Ⅰ or Ⅱ. Both groups received general anesthesia. Before anesthesia induction, group B underwent bilateral ESPB under ultrasound guidance, and group E was treated with epidural puncture. After operation, group B was treated with patient-controlled intravenous analgesia and group E was treated with patient-controlled epidural analgesia. The visual analogue scale(VAS) score of resting pain at 2, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 h after operation was recorded. The number of cases of remedial analgesia with flurbiprofen axetil, postoperative exhaust time, first time of food intake, first time of off-bed activity, length of hospitalization and analgesic satisfaction score were recorded. The analgesia-related adverse reactions within 48 h after operation were recorded, including nausea and vomiting, skin itching, dizziness, respiratory depression, and urinary retention. 
Results The resting pain VAS scores of the two groups got higher and higher with the postoperative time(P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in the interaction between groups, groups and time points(P＞0.05) .The number of salvage analgesia in group B was 1 case(3.3%), and there were 2 cases in group E(6.7%). The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant(χ2=0.000, P=1.000).  The postoperative exhaust time, first time of food intake, first time of off-bed activity and length of hospitalization of group B were shorter than those of group E(P＜0.05), while the satisfaction of analgesia was significantly higher than that of group E(P＜0.05), and the incidence of analgesia-related adverse reactions within 48 h after operation was significantly lower than that of group E(P＜0.05). 
Conclusion Bilateral ESPB combined with intravenous analgesia or continuous epidural analgesia can provide good postoperative analgesia for patients receiving gastric cancer surgery, but the former has fewer adverse reactions and higher patient satisfaction, which is more conducive to early rapid rehabilitation and shorter hospital stay.

Key words: stomach neoplasms, nerve block, analgesia, early rehabilitation