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P A I N
M A N A G E M E N T
LOCAL ANESTHETIC
Non-Opioid Injection to Control Pain at the Surgical Site
L
ocal anesthetic
injections may
be the answer to
getting your patients
back to functionality
post-op, according to
a study presented in
AT THE SITE Liposome injection of bupivacaine
April during the
can quell pain for 3 days.
Premier Global Hot
Topics Session at the Aesthetic Meeting 2013 in New York City. The study
found that patients treated with a new, injectable, non-opioid analgesic
for dual abdominoplasty and breast procedure (either reduction or augmentation) reported low pain scores in the 3 days post-op, used 33% less
narcotics for pain control and had a high satisfaction with pain management.
Stephan Finical, MD, FACS, a plastic surgeon, and Michael C. Edwards,
MD, FACS, president-elect of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic
Surgery, presented the findings. The prospective, observational study of
49 patients at 10 sites assessed patient-reported outcomes and ease of
use of a liposome injection of bupivacaine as an adjunctive pain therapy
in soft-tissue aesthetic surgical procedures.
The non-opioid analgesic Exparel is indicated for administration into the
surgical site and is said to deliver therapeutic levels of bupivacaine over
the important first 72 post-op hours. The study's findings bear this out; its
outcomes measures included the following parameters.
• Pain. As measured by NRS scores through post-op day 3, pain scores
averaged less than 4.0.
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | J U N E 2013
