The Efficacy of Liposomal Bupivacaine in Ultrasound Guided Supraclavicular Nerve Blocks for Hand and Wrist Surgery

Patients undergoing hand, wrist, and elbow surgery may experience pain after surgery. The orthopedic surgeon may provide prescription pain medications after surgery to assist with pain control. However, with concern of the opioid epidemic, many patients would rather minimize the use of narcotic pain prescriptions after having surgery. As an alternative, ultrasound guided regional nerve blocks can assist with postoperative pain control. patients consented to this study will be randomized into three groups: 1) will receive an ultrasound guided nerve block with local anesthesia only, 2) will receive an ultrasound guided nerve block with local anesthesia and a steroid dexamethasone, 3) will receive an ultrasound guided nerve block with liposomal bupivacaine. our study team will make phone calls after surgery to the patient to determine how long the block lasted for, and how many opioid pain pills were taken up to 3 days after surgery.