• Nathan Eberle and Martin Newman.
• From the Cleveland Clinic Florida Weston, FL.
• Ann Plast Surg. 2015 Jun 1; 74 Suppl 4: S198-200.

BackgroundSince obtaining FDA approval for postsurgical pain management in 2011, a number of well-designed studies have reported favorably on the safety and efficacy of liposomal bupivacaine (LB). However, the literature lacks adequate reports of patient perception of postoperative pain and subjective satisfaction.MethodsA telephone survey of patients who received LB injection at time of operation at a single institution was contacted. Included were patients who underwent cosmetic, reconstructive, and/or breast procedures. Patients were asked to report their perception of pain on post-operative day (POD) 1 and 3 using the verbal scale (1-10). Additionally, patients reported on: understanding of medications received, overall satisfaction, perception of economic value, and perception of preference to elastomeric pump.ResultsA total of 75 patients met inclusion criteria and could be reached by telephone; 23(31%) cosmetic and 52(69%) reconstructive and/or breast procedures. Mean pain score reported 2.6 (0-9) POD 1 and 3.6 (0-8) POD 3.Thirty-six (48%) patients were aware they had received the medication. Seventy-three (98%) reported they would want LB again if they needed surgery in the future and would pay U.S. $230 [$100-$1000] for the medication. All (100%) patients favored LB over a perceived elastomeric pump device.ConclusionsPatient perception of efficacy after the injection of LB correlates with previous clinical findings. Our experience with LB injections for cosmetic and reconstructive breast procedures indicates that patients experienced low postoperative pain scores with high overall patient satisfaction. Additional studies comparing the use of LB to standard narcotic regimens and its use in multimodality pain management are warranted.

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