Official Title

The Effect of Exparel on Post Operative Pain and Narcotic Use After Colon Surgery
  • Phase

    Phase 4
  • Study Type

    Interventional
  • Intervention/Treatment

    levobupivacaine ...
  • Study Participants

    51
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of Exparel on pain control and patient outcome after colon resection. The investigators will evaluate the clinical course of the patients who receive exparel as compared to the patients who do not receive exparel. Exparel is a 72 hour bupivacaine which is slowly released from lysosomes over the course of three days. A long acting local anesthetic should provide better pain control than conventional bupivacaine which has a 3.5 hour half-life.
Patients who are undergoing elective colon resection with Dr. Kraemer and Dr. Raman will be offered participation in the study. This will include robotic, laparoscopic and open procedures.

In the pre-operative area prior to surgery, the surgical resident will inform the patient of the opportunity to participate in the research study. The resident will consent the patient at that time, if the patient chooses to participate, they will be randomized to an exparel or non-exparel group. The randomization will be done by having the resident pick an envelope that will state whether or not the patient is randomized to the exparel or non-exparel group, this will randomize to 50% in each group. The patient will not be notified of the type of local anesthetic they receive. The attending surgeon will also be blind to the type of local the pt will receive; only the resident and Operating Room (OR) staff will know what type of local anesthetic was given. Unfortunately the opaque color of the exparel precludes the physician injecting the local anesthetic from being blinded to the type of anesthetic given.

The patient will be taken to the operating room as usual, and the surgery will proceed as it normally would. At the end of the surgery the patient will receive either exparel or bupivacaine depending upon which the patient was randomized to. The attending surgeon will not be in the operating suite while the local anesthetic is being injected. 30 milliliters (mL) of either exparel or bupivacaine will be injected into the subcutaneous tissues at the end of surgery.

The patient will be taken to the post operative care unit (PACU), the medications for post-operative pain will be standardized between the two groups, a standard starting dose on the patient controlled analgesia (PCA) will be used, and will be adjusted as needed. The postoperative care will attempt to be standardized in regard to diet, discharge (dc) of foley, not using nasogastric (NG) tubes, however this will be based on the individual patient was what is best for their care. This data will then be analyzed to determine if exparel has a beneficial effect on surgical care.
Study Started
Feb 28
2013
Primary Completion
Dec 31
2013
Study Completion
Dec 31
2013
Results Posted
Jan 08
2021
Last Update
Jan 08
2021

Drug Bupivacaine

30ml of bupivacaine were injecting into the subcutaneous tissue at the incision sites after surgery in the OR

  • Other names: Marcaine

Drug Bupivacaine liposome suspension

30ml of Bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension were injecting into the subcutaneous tissue at the incision sites after surgery in the OR

  • Other names: Exparel, 72 hour Bupivacaine, Long acting Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Active Comparator

30 milliliters (ml) of 0.5% marcaine with epinephrine

Bupivacaine liposome suspension Active Comparator

exparel 20ml, diluted with 10ml sterile saline for total of 30ml

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Elective colon resection for both benign and malignant disease
Laparoscopic, robotic and open techniques

Exclusion Criteria:

emergent colon cases
cases preformed by surgeons other than Dr. Raman or Dr. Kraemer
pregnant patients
patients currently breast feeding
patients under the age of 18
other patients unable to give informed consent
bupivacaine use within 96 hours
allergy to amide anesthetics
prisoners
caution will be used in patients with renal or hepatic failure.

Summary

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

All Events

Event Type Organ System Event Term

PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia) Usage

Will measure the amount of PCA use for the first 48 hours after surgery.

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Oral Pain Medications

the amount of post operative oral narcotic is measured post op

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Total IV (Intravenous) Narcotic Used

the total amount of IV narcotic is measured that is given during post op period prior to discharge

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Total Oral Narcotic Used

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Length of Stay

Bupivacaine

4.0
days

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

6.0
days

Return of Bowel Function

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Readmission

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Toradol Use

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Bupivacaine

Ofirmev

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Nausea Medication

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Foley Catheter Removal

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Postoperative Pain

The investigators will talk to the patient after surgery immediately post operatively Post Operative Day (POD) #3-5 and POD #13-15 and ask the patients to rate their pain on a scale of 1-10.

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Post Operative Satisfaction

The investigators will ask the patient to rate their satisfaction with pain control.

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Home Oral Narcotic Use

The investigators will ask the patients how many of their narcotic pain pills they used after surgery up to the POD #13-15

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension

Bupivacaine

NG (Nasogastric) Placement

We recorded if an NG was placed immediately post operatively

Outcome Measure Data Not Reported

Total

51
Participants

Age, Continuous

67
years (Mean)
Standard Deviation: 2

Age, Categorical

Region of Enrollment

Sex: Female, Male

Overall Study

Bupivacaine

Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension