Abstract
Local infiltrations and regional blocks have been some of the effective ways employed
to manage and control post-operative pain. One of the limitations of administration
of local anesthesia drugs in post-operative conditions is its inability to act for
a longer period of time. Multi-vesicular liposomes made up of bupivacaine have been
progressively used for their increased duration of action. Compared to bupivacaine
HCL, local infiltration of liposomal bupivacaine have shown to have a significantly
increase the duration and delay in peak plasma concentration. In this article, we
attempt to compare liposomal bupivacaine and bupivacaine based on available clinical
literatures. Liposomal bupivacaine has been demonstrated to have promising implications
in post- operative pain control resulting in increased patient satisfaction; reduced
hospital admission and opioid induced adverse events. Clinical studies have identified
liposomal bupivacaine to be effective in delivering increased post-operative pain
control. The purpose of this review is to give a comprehensive comparison between
bupivacaine liposomal and conventional bupivacaine based on reported clinical trials.
Key words
bupivacaine - bupivacaine liposomal - formulary - pharmacoeconomics