Evaluation of Intraoperative, Local Site Injections of Liposomal Bupivacaine as an Alternative to Standard Local Anesthetics in Patients Undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty

Investigation of liposomal bupivacaine to determine if this drug is a valid alternative to standard of care local anesthesia based on evaluation in total hip arthroplasty This is a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients undergoing THA at 3 hospitals within a U.S. healthcare system from January 2013 to July 2016. The control group received the standard of care undergoing THA (plain bupivacaine or ropivacaine), while the LB group received a mixture containing this drug as the alternative to the standard care. The outcome variables include hospital length of stay, readmissions, total hospital costs, patient pain scores, discharge disposition, morphine equivalent opioid consumption, and postoperative patient ambulation. Generalized linear models were employed to examine aforementioned outcomes controlling for age, gender, race, BMI, alcohol use, tobacco use, and surgeons..