Liposomal Bupivacaine (Exparel) for Postoperative Pain Control for Open and Laparoscopic Abdominal Hernia Repair

September 8, 2025 updated by: University of Kansas Medical Center
The purpose of this study is to learn how well Liposomal Bupivacaine (Exparel™) controls post-operative pain in patients undergoing both open and laparoscopic (minimally invasive) abdominal hernia repair surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

When a person has surgery, there are a few different standard care options for pain relief. Anesthetic (numbing) drugs can be used to cause a loss of feeling in or around a wound but the effect of the numbing medication can be undone.Pain relieving drugs such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and opioid (narcotic) medications can also be taken by mouth or through a vein in your arm (intravenous IV.) However, both NSAIDs & Opioid drugs can produce negative side effects such as serious difficulty breathing, stopping breathing altogether, low blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, itching, and constipation.

Bupivacaine is one of the commonly used longer-acting numbing medicines (anesthetics). The effect of Bupivacaine or other anesthetics is limited to usually no more than 12 hours when injected around the area of the incision during surgery. Liposomal Bupivacaine (Exparel) could provide good, continuous and longer pain relief than current therapies/treatments commonly used. This can possibly improve patient satisfaction and time to normal activities such as walking.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
19

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Kansas
      • Kansas City, Kansas, United States, 66160
        • University of Kansas Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients scheduled to undergo an open or laparoscopic abdominal hernia repair.
  • Ability to provide informed consent, adhere to study visit schedule, and complete all study assessments.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with a history of hypersensitivity or idiosyncratic reactions or intolerance to any local anesthetic, opioids or ketorolac.
  • Patients who abuse alcohol or other drug substance.
  • Patients who are on chronic opioid therapy (taken an opioid 5 of the last 7 days).
  • Patients with severe hepatic impairment.
  • Patients currently pregnant.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Treatment Group 1
Treatment Group patients will receive an opioid-sparing, multimodal, postsurgical pain regimen consisting of intraoperative local wound infiltration with 266 mg EXPAREL followed by, when not contraindicated, administration of a 30 mg dose of IV ketorolac at the end of surgery. Patients scheduled in Treatment Group 1 will have an open surgery for abdominal hernia repair.
Drug: Ketorolac
Other Names:
  • Toradol
Drug: EXPAREL
Other Names:
  • Bupivacaine Liposome Injectable Suspension
Procedure: an open surgery for abdominal hernia repair
Experimental: Treatment Group 2
Treatment Group patients will receive an opioid-sparing, multimodal, postsurgical pain regimen consisting of intraoperative local wound infiltration with 266 mg EXPAREL followed by, when not contraindicated, administration of a 30 mg dose of IV ketorolac at the end of surgery. Patients scheduled in Treatment Group 2 will have a laparoscopic abdominal hernia repair.
Drug: Ketorolac
Other Names:
  • Toradol
Drug: EXPAREL
Other Names:
  • Bupivacaine Liposome Injectable Suspension
Procedure: laparoscopic abdominal hernia repair
Active Comparator: Control Group 1
Patients scheduled in Control Group 1 will have an open surgery for abdominal hernia repair. The Control Group patients will receive traditional treatment.
Procedure: an open surgery for abdominal hernia repair
Active Comparator: Control Group 2
Patients scheduled in Control Group 2 will have laparoscopic abdominal hernia repair. The Control Group patients will receive traditional treatment.
Procedure: laparoscopic abdominal hernia repair

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient Satisfaction With Pain Management After Surgery
Time Frame: Change from Surgery to Day 14
Satisfaction measured with composite score that includes score from the Likert scale and opioid consumption/satisfaction log. Satisfaction was rated on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being "strongly disagree"/not satisfied with pain control and 5 being "strongly agree"/satisfied with pain control. Patients filled out the log on days 1-4 after surgery and at a 7-14 day follow up visit.
Change from Surgery to Day 14

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Total Length of Time in Post-anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
Time Frame: Up to 385 minutes after surgery
Length of time subjects stayed in the PACU following surgery
Up to 385 minutes after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Kansas Medical Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Michael Moncure, MD, University of Kansas Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
January 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 29, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 30, 2014

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 1, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 10, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 8, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • STUDY00000101

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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