Continuous Local Anesthetic Infusion Following Hernia Repair

Not Applicable

Completed

Interventions: Procedure: Pain management following hernia repair
Procedure: Placebo for pain management following hernia repair

Brief Summary: The primary endpoint of this study will determine if subjects receiving a continuous infusion of local anesthetic following laparoscopic ventral hernia repair, with the pain pump installed as described to treat post surgical pain will have a lower incidence of pain than those patients treated with a placebo, saline-filled pain pump.The secondary endpoint of this study will determine if subjects receiving a continuous infusion of local anesthetic following laparoscopic ventral hernia repair, with the pain pump installed as described to treat post surgical pain will have a lower utilization of narcotic analgesic medication than those patients treated with the placebo, saline-filled pain pump.

Detailed Description: Patients will be screened to determine study eligibility using inclusion/exclusion criteria. Following the consent process, subjects will be randomly assigned to a treatment arm (anesthetic or placebo group). Baseline data will be collected prior surgical implantation of the pain pump delivery system. Both study and control groups will be able to receive supplemental medication for breakthrough pain as determined by the surgeon. Post-operative data will be collected up to three weeks following surgery.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

>18 years

Exclusion Criteria

ASA IV or greater
Needing emergency surgery
Known history of drug abuse
GI, liver, kidney or other condition which, per the surgeon's opinion, could interfere with the absorption, distribution, metabolism or excretion of any drug used during the duration of the study
Patients with a prior allergic reaction or dependency to morphine, demerol, dilaudid, fentanyl, marcaine(bupivicaine), lidocaine, or ropivicaine.

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Local anesthetic continuous infusion	Pain management following hernia repair	Pain management following hernia repair
Placebo continuous infusion	Placebo for pain management following hernia repair	Placebo pain management following hernia repair

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Post-Operative Pain	Verbal Rating Scale used twice a day, up to 7 days postoperatively	Patients will self-report pain assessments on questionnaires each of the first seven days post-operatively using the 4 Point Verbal Rating Scale; ranging from 1=Severe Pain, to 4=No Pain, higher scores indicating less pain, or a better outcome. Values for two daily scores were averaged for each participant, the average across 7 days is reported.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of Days With Post-Operative Narcotic Analgesic Use	Up to 3 weeks post surgery	Patients given a diary to record all narcotics taken post-op for pain control.