A573 A Prospective Randomized Trial of Liposomal Versus Plain Bupivacaine in Minimally Invasive General Surgery Procedures

The opiate crisis in America has prompted institutions nationwide to explore different modalities to reduce opiate use. Bariatric surgery patients are especially at risk. Long-acting liposomal local anesthetic is one of those modalities, and this medication can easily be utilized in surgical patients to reduce postoperative incisional pain. Objective: To compare the postoperative outcomes after surgical local infiltration with short-acting plain bupivacaine compared to long-acting liposomal bupivacaine in patients undergoing minimally invasive, general surgery procedures. Methods: A prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial of patients undergoing minimally-invasive, elective bariatric surgery procedures. Subjects were randomized to receive either local infiltration of short-acting plain bupivacaine or long-acting liposomal bupivacaine during their procedure. Subsequent inpatient narcotic usage, was calculated and converted to oral morphine equivalents. Inpatient subjective pain scores were calculated and averaged throughout each patient’s hospitalization. Outpatient pain levels and physical functioning levels were evaluated with the PASTOR pain scale survey at post-operative day 1, 7, and 14.