Pacira Pharmaceuticals has announced the findings from two new studies supporting the use of Exparel infiltrated into the transversus abdominis plane for postsurgical pain management
Presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) in San Diego, US, the first study evaluated the use of Exparel administered through Infiltration into the transversus abdominis plane (iTAP) for postsurgical pain control.
Maimonides Medical Center Anesthesiology vice chairman Mark Kronenfeld said that the prolonged pain relief and improved patient satisfaction they observed using Exparel in TAP infiltration after large and generally painful umbilical hernia repairs was unprecedented.
The second study was discussed regarding a retrospective review of 20 patients undergoing hand-assisted nephrectomies and colorectal procedures and receiving an iTAP with Exparel for postsurgical pain control during a poster presentation held at the 38th annual spring meeting of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) in Boston.
University of Minnesota Anesthesiology department Perioperative and Interventional Pain Service director and study's investigator Jacob Hutchins said that infiltration into the transversus abdominis plane using traditional local anesthetics is a highly-effective technique to produce regional pain control during surgery, but the postsurgical benefits rarely extend beyond 18 hours.
"Based on this retrospective review, we're pleased to report that using EXPAREL in a TAP infiltration was shown to be a safe and effective option to extend postsurgical pain control for up to three days, when postsurgical pain is at its worst," Hutchins added.
Exparel is indicated for single-dose administration into the surgical site to produce postsurgical analgesia and has broad applications across a variety of surgical specialties ranging from general, colorectal surgery to bariatric and plastic surgery procedures.
