Liposomal Bupivacaine for Post-operative Pain Control in Adolescent Bariatric Patients

Use of liposomal bupivacaine has not been reported specifically for use in adolescent bariatric surgery. Our rationale is based on the notion that for most minimally invasive procedures, methods currently used for pain control provide good outcomes that liposomal bupivacaine may not necessarily be able to improve upon. It is critically important to minimize the narcotics for our bariatric surgical patients so they are mobilized early and frequently to minimize their risk for a deep venous thrombosis, which could become a pulmonary embolus. In addition, as these patients are prone to constipation after their operation as a result of their 2 week protein sparing liquid diet preoperatively, avoiding narcotics can reduce their chances of further challenges in return of their bowel function. For these reasons, we seek to investigate whether incorporating liposomal bupivacaine in the analgesic regimen for patients undergoing a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy will lead to improvements in patient-reported outcomes and decreased opioid utilization.