• Christina Artz, Mark A Ward, Majel V P Miles, Phillip Brennan, Kaitlin M Alexander, Alicia Lintner, Andrew Bright, and Steven A Kahn.
• Department of Surgery, University of South Alabama Medical Center, 2451 USA Medical Center Dr, Suite 10-I, Mobile, AL 36617, United States; Department of Pharmacy Practice, Auburn University, Harrison School of Pharmacy, 650 Clinic Drive, Suite 2100, Mobile, AL 36688, United States.
• Burns. 2021 Aug 1; 47 (5): 1045-1052.

IntroductionBurn injury and reconstructive operations often result in severe pain, particularly at skin graft donor sites. Traditional local anesthetics administered intraoperatively control pain at donor sites, but the duration of action is short. Liposomal bupivacaine, a novel local anesthetic, can provide sustained-release analgesia for 72h. The primary aim of this study was to describe the efficacy of liposomal bupivacaine for postoperative donor site pain control for patients undergoing skin graft procedures.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was performed on patients who received a donor site liposomal bupivacaine field block and was compared to a matched control. Patients rated donor site pain on post-operative day 0 and 1, and stated whether the donor or graft site was more painful.ResultsFifty-eight patients were included. Twenty-nine patients received liposomal bupivacaine. Eighty-six percent of patients in the treatment group rated donor site pain as three or less on postoperative day 0 and 1, compared to 3.4% in the control (p<0.0001). Also, 76% of patients in the treatment group stated donor site pain was less than graft site pain, compared to 3.4% in the control (p<0.0001).ConclusionPatients who received liposomal bupivacaine reported less postoperative donor site pain and found the donor site to be less bothersome without major complications. Liposomal bupivacaine may be a safe and promising agent for prolonging postoperative analgesia and minimizing donor site pain.Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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