Pudendal Block Using Liposomal Bupivacaine vs. Standard Treatment During Sacrospinous Ligament Fixation

Overview

A pudendal nerve block is a procedure where a local anesthetic is injected where the pudendal nerve is located. This allows quick pain relief to the perineum, vulva, and vagina. The purpose of this research study is see if injecting a long-acting local anesthetic, called Liposomal Bupivacaine (EXPAREL), will result in less post-operative pain after having vaginal prolapse surgery. Typical post-operative pain lasts a few days. Short-acting anesthetics only provide pain relief in the few hours after surgery. EXPAREL will add the benefit of longer acting pain relief that can last up to 72 hours with the same safety profile. EXPAREL is an FDA-approved medication. It has been used and studied extensively in gynecologic surgery for incisional pain. It has also been studied in Urology and Orthopedic surgery with an excellent safety profile with good pain relief.

Various clinical studies have indicated that preemptive analgesia can effectively reduce pain as well as analgesic requirements in the post-operative period. Pudendal nerve blockade has been used successfully for multiple urological procedures to prevent post-operative pain. It has also been used in obstetrical practice as a low-risk and low-cost anesthetic technique during repair of obstetrical lacerations. Postoperative pain after vaginal reconstructive surgery is commonly localized to the vulva, lower vagina, and perineum, originating from the region of the sacrospinous ligament and pelvic floor. Therefore, pudendal nerve blockage has been employed safely during pelvic reconstructive surgery. A study comparing pudendal block with placebo after transvaginal reconstructive surgery did not produce any differences in post-operative pain intensity or the consumption of narcotic analgesia. However, the anesthetic used for the pudendal nerve blockage was short-acting non-liposomal bupivacaine with a half-life of 2.7 hours. In 2011, a liposomal formulation of bupivacaine, EXPAREL, was approved by the FDA for single-dose infiltration in surgical site to produce postsurgical analgesia. The advantage of using this formulation of bupivacaine is that its analgesic effects can last up to 72 hours. Since the release of EXPAREL, there have been no published studies establishing its use for pudendal block or the management of postoperative pain in Urogynecologic surgery. The objective of our study is to compare the use of EXPAREL in minimizing post-operative pain after sacrospinous ligament fixation with or without concomitant procedures for pelvic organ prolapse, with or without suburethral sling. We hypothesize that pudendal nerve blockage using long-acting EXPAREL will reduce post-operative pain and potentially reduce oral narcotic consumption. It may also reduce the incidence of postoperative constipation and patient satisfaction.