The primary objective is to reduce or eliminate the use of all narcotics/opiates for post Cesarean section pain management. The investigators hypothesize that in comparison with epidural or intrathecal Duramorph, a TAP block with liposomal bupivacaine (Exparel) will provide better, longer-acting pain control and will significantly reduce the use of post-operative IV or p.o. opiates. This is a prospective, randomized clinical trial.
The investigators will compare the analgesic efficacy and duration of an ultrasound guided bilateral TAP Block (with combined bupivacaine and liposomal bupivacaine) to Duramorph (an opiate). Neuraxial duramorph provides approximately 24 hours of pain relief (analgesia), whereas a bilateral TAP block with liposomal bupivacaine is expected to provide up to 72 hours of analgesia. All participants will have neuraxial anesthesia (either a spinal or epidural) for their non-urgent or elective Cesarean section. The control group (Group 1) will receive either intrathecal or epidural Duramorph (preservative-free morphine sulfate). Post-operatively, participants will have orders to receive, on an as-needed basis, IV/oral acetaminophen and/or IV/oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) for mild-moderate pain, and narcotics for severe pain; specifically- oxycodone or hydromorphone. All patients must receive acetaminophen and NSAIDS (unless contraindicated) before receiving narcotics. This multi-modal pain management regimen is our current standard of care. The experimental group (Group 2) will also receive a spinal or epidural anesthetic. This group will not receive neuraxial Duramorph for post-operative pain. Instead, the patient will receive an ultrasound guided bilateral TAP block with a combination of bupivacaine and liposomal bupivacaine solution immediately after the Cesarean section. Additionally, all participants will receive the same post-operative analgesia orders as group 1.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
71
Bilateral TAP Blocks with combination of regular Bupivacaine and EXPAREL
Kalpana Tyagaraj
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Maimonides Medical Center
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Pain Assessed by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at 48 Hours
To evaluate pain, participant will be shown a card that has a visual analogue (Faces) pains scale combined with numerical (0-10) analogue scale (0 is no pain, 10 is the worst pain imaginable).
Time frame: 48 hours
Pain Assessed by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at 72 Hours
To evaluate pain, participant will be shown a card that has a visual analogue (Faces) pains scale combined with numerical (0-10) analogue scale (0 is no pain, 10 is the worst pain imaginable).
Time frame: 72 hours
Number of Participants Using Narcotics
Total use of narcotics during the post operative period
Time frame: 72 hours
Patient Satisfaction With Pain Control Assessed by 11 Point Satisfaction Scale
Patient satisfaction with postsurgical pain management: 0\_\_\_\_\_1\_\_\_\_\_2\_\_\_\_\_3\_\_\_\_\_4\_\_\_\_\_5\_\_\_\_\_6\_\_\_\_\_7\_\_\_\_\_8\_\_\_\_\_9\_\_\_\_\_10 0=not at all satisfied 10= extremely satisfied
Time frame: 72 hours
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