Exparel Injection for Postoperative Orbital Pain

Mayo Clinic

Status and phase: Active, not recruiting; Phase 4

Conditions: Pain, Postoperative

Treatments: Drug: Bupivacaine

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02381353

14-007145

Details and patient eligibility

About

After surgery to remove the eye, either by enucleation or evisceration, patients have variable levels of pain for several postoperative days. Some patients have almost no discomfort while others require significant amounts of oral narcotics and report pain of 10 out of 10 on a numerical rating scale. The current operative standard is to infiltrate the eye socket with 0.5% bupivacaine during surgery leading to several hours of postoperative analgesia. In 2011, Pacira Pharmaceuticals released a bupivacaine liposomal injectable suspension (Exparel, 1.3%) which offers sustained release of bupivacaine giving postoperative pain control for up to 72 hours. This medication has been used in numerous surgeries including inguinal hernia repair, hemorrhoidectomy, bunionectomy, breast reconstruction, and orthopedic surgery, and the literature reports improved pain control, decreased use of oral opioids, and increased patient satisfaction. There are no reports of the use of Exparel in the ophthalmic literature. The investigators propose a randomized, controlled trial to compare the postoperative pain control offered by sustained release bupivacaine to that offered by standard plain bupivacaine after enucleation or evisceration.

Enrollment: 88 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. All patients undergoing enucleation or evisceration of the eye whose surgery is performed by the Department of Ophthalmology at Mayo Clinic Rochester
2. Willing and able to comprehend a numerical rating scale system and provide a score to assess pain, nausea, and satisfaction level.

Exclusion criteria

1. Age less than 18 years (Exparel has not been tested in a pediatric population)
2. Pregnant or nursing (Exparel has not been tested in this patient population)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Quadruple Blind

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88 participants in 2 patient groups

Plain bupivacaine

Active Comparator group

Description:

Intraoperative injection of local anesthetic agent, standard of care

Treatment:

Drug: Bupivacaine

Exparel (sustained release bupivacaine)

Experimental group

Description:

Intraoperative injection of local anesthetic agent, long acting agent

Treatment:

Drug: Bupivacaine