The Effect of Liposomal Bupivacaine on Post Operative Pain and Narcotic Use After Bariatric Surgery

This study is prospective, randomized trial in which the efficacy of liposomal bupivacaine (Exparel®) is compared to standard bupivacaine local surgical site injection in reducing total IV and oral morphine equivalents required after laparoscopic bariatric surgery. Liposomal bupivacaine is a 72-hour bupivacaine that is slowly released from tissue over the course of three days. Having a long acting local anesthetic should provide better pain control than conventional bupivacaine which has a 3.5-hour half-life. In some studies, the use of liposomal bupivacaine has been shown to decrease pain and narcotic use after surgery. This has not yet been studied in bariatric patients and the use of liposomal bupivacaine can potentially improve patient post-operative pain control, decrease narcotic use, decrease hospital length of stay and readmission rates and improve patient satisfaction after bariatric surgery.