Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:Liposomal bupivacaine (LB), as an extended-release local anesthetic, may provide lasting pain control and therefore decrease the need for narcotics in the immediate postoperative period. OBJECTIVES/OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to evaluate whether transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block with LB decreased the use of postoperative narcotics compared with regular bupivacaine (RB) and no TAP block in patients undergoing weight loss procedures. SETTING/METHODS:A large, metropolitan, university-affiliated, tertiary hospital. METHODS:test and analysis of variance F test. RESULTS:Two hundred nineteen patients were included in the study. Fentanyl patient-controlled analgesia usage was not significantly different between the groups (LB 351.4 versus RB 360.7 versus no TAP block 353.9, P = .97) at 48 hours post operation. The pain scores (scale 1-10) were similar among the groups with the mean for the LB group at 4.3, and RB and no TAP block groups both at 4.7 (P = .35). The type of block or lack of block did not significantly impact the length of stay, time to ambulation, or presence of nausea. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The LB TAP block did not significantly reduce the total opiate pain medication consumption nor did it reduce pain scores among bariatric surgery patients.

BACKGROUND:Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) are the two most common bariatric surgeries for treating morbid obesity. The purpose of this study is to determine differences in outcomes from RYGB or SG between patients ages ≥ 60 years and < 60 years. METHODS:A retrospective review of patients who underwent RYGB and SG at our institution from 01/2008 to 05/2012 was conducted. Forty patients from each group (≥60 years and < 60 years) were matched based on gender, body mass index (BMI), co-morbidities, and type of bariatric surgery performed, and their charts were reviewed up to 1 year post-operatively. Primary end points measured were mean length of stay, operative time, incidence of complications, and readmissions in the first post-operative year. A secondary end point measured was percent total weight loss (%TWL) and excess weight loss (%EWL). RESULTS:There were no significant differences between group < 60 and group ≥ 60 in operative time (210 vs. 229 min; p = 0.177), in-hospital post-operative complication rates (2.5 vs. 5 %; p = 1.0), long-term complication rates (2.5 vs. 10 %; p = 0.359), and 30-day readmission rates (2.5 vs. 12.5 %; p = 0.2). Patients in group < 60 had shorter lengths of stay (2.2 vs. 2.7 days; p = 0.031), but this difference is not clinically significant. Both groups achieved similar %TWL (21.4 vs. 20.5 %; p = 0.711) and %EWL (50.6 vs. 50.7 %; p = 0.986). CONCLUSIONS:Advanced age (≥60 years) is not a significant predictor of a worse outcome for SG and RYGB.