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Supraclavicular Bupivacaine Vs. Supraclavicular Liposomal Bupivacaine for Orthopedic Wrist Surgery

Phase 3
Recruiting
Conditions
Distal Radius Fractures
Wrist Fractures
Interventions
Registration Number
NCT06179004
Lead Sponsor
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Brief Summary

Orthopedic wrist procedures often cause significant postoperative pain. A supraclavicular nerve block is an effective and proven method to help reduce postoperative pain and decrease opioid use around the time of upper extremity surgery. Liposomal bupivacaine (Exparel) has been approved for use around the brachial plexus, but its analgesic efficacy has limited data. The investigators' goal is to evaluate the effectiveness of Exparel as compared to plain bupivacaine. The investigators hope to ensure the quality of pain control around the time of distal radius fracture repair and reduce the variability of care at the investigators institution by prospectively and rigorously collecting perioperative data during this study.

Detailed Description

Purpose: Orthopedic wrist procedures often cause significant postoperative pain. A supraclavicular nerve block is an effective and proven method to help reduce postoperative pain and decrease opioid use around the time of shoulder surgery. Liposomal bupivacaine (Exparel) has been approved for use around the brachial plexus, but its analgesic efficacy has limited data. The investigators goal is to evaluate the effectiveness of Exparel as compared to the investigators prior standard practice of using plain bupivacaine. The investigators hope to ensure the quality of pain control around the time of distal radius fracture repair and reduce the variability of care at the investigators institution by prospectively and rigorously collecting perioperative data during this study.

Participants: Adult participants age \> 18 undergoing orthopedic wrist surgery at the University of North Carolina ambulatory surgery center and University of North Carolina Hillsborough campus Exclusion Criteria: the below are simply contraindications to regional anesthesia in general, this is a pragmatic study to evaluate the quality of care for these subjects with no additional exclusion criteria.- Contraindications to regional anesthesia- Significant peripheral neuropathy or neurological disorder affecting the upper extremity- Pregnancy- Cognitive or psychiatric condition that might affect patient assessment and/or inability to provide informed consent.

Procedures (methods): This is a prospective, randomized comparison of participants undergoing orthopedic wrist procedures that receive one of two types of supraclavicular nerve block. Group 1 will be comprised of patients with a preoperative supraclavicular nerve block placed with 20 mL 0.5% bupivacaine. Group 2 will be comprised of participants with a preoperative supraclavicular nerve block placed with 10 mL 0.5% bupivacaine and 10 mL 1.3% Liposomal Bupivacaine (Exparel). All subjects in both groups will have a similar intraoperative general anesthetic with multimodal analgesic pre-op oral medications. Outcomes measured by Post anesthesia care unit assessment and telephone follow up: see uploaded data collection form.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
100
Inclusion Criteria
  • Age greater than or equal to 18
  • Scheduled for distal radius fracture repair at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Contraindications to regional anesthesia
  • Emergent surgery Open fractures will be treated emergently and will not allow adequate lead time for enrollment in this study. Also, open fractures are usually accompanied by other traumatic injuries that would confound the pain related outcomes in this study.
  • Significant peripheral neuropathy or neurological disorder affecting the upper extremity
  • Pregnancy Pregnant women have physiologic changes that make them more sensitive to local anesthetics. That would introduce a confounding element in interpreting the effectiveness of the peripheral nerve blocks being studied.
  • Cognitive or psychiatric condition that might affect patient assessment and/or inability to provide informed consent.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Supraclavicular Liposomal Bupivacaine groupLiposomal bupivacaineThis group will receive the liposomal bupivacaine
Supraclavicular Plain Bupivacaine groupBupivacaine HydrochlorideThis group will receive the plain bupivacaine
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Pre-operative and 48-hour Post-operative Quality of Recovery 15 survey scorePre-operative and at 24 hours and 48 hours post-operative

The quality of recovery-15 (QoR-15) is a validated questionnaire to assess postoperative recovery. Scale is based on 15 questions, each question score range is 0-10 (0 being poor and 10 being excellent) The survey will be conducted at 24 hours intervals after surgery up to 48 hours total after surgery. The total score range is 0-150, where a score of 0 would be the worst possible score, and 150 would be the best possible score

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Time to First Dose of Opioid MedicationPost-operative period up to 48 hours after surgery

Investigate opioid medication consumption by recording time to first opioid medication administered.

Total opioid dose through Post-op Day 2Post-operative period up to 48 hours after surgery

Investigate opioid medication consumption by recording total opioid dose for each group through postoperative day 2.

Difference in Participant Reported Pain ScoresPost-operative period up to 48 hours after surgery

These pain scores will be collected immediately after surgery in the recovery room, and on postoperative days 1 and 2 during follow up telephone encounters. The estimate of interest is the difference in patient reported pain scores (numeric 0-10) between groups at these points in time.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

UNC Chapel Hill

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Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

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