Bupivacaine for Post-operative Pain in Mohs

October 19, 2021 updated by: Nicholas J Golda, University of Missouri-Columbia

Randomized Trial of Bupivacaine as Adjuvant for Post-operative Pain in Mohs Micrographic Surgery

Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is regarded as the gold standard for the treatment of high-risk nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Pain after MMS peaks on the day of surgery and slowly decreases thereafter. The most common post-operative analgesics include acetaminophen, ibuprofen and narcotics. Lidocaine is the most commonly used anesthetic in MMS, but bupivacaine has been shown in other surgical specialties to be an effective adjuvant to reduce post-operative pain and opioid use when injected locally in the immediate postoperative period. Bupivacaine has also been shown to reduce intra-operative pain during MMS. The investigators plan a single-blinded prospective, randomized, controlled trial to determine if post-operative wound infiltration of bupivacaine versus normal saline improves post-operative pain and decreases need for post-operative pain medications including both narcotic and nonnarcotic analgesics.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is the first-line treatment for high-risk nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) and is increasingly used for melanoma and other cutaneous neoplasms. The surgical technique involves multiple stages of surgery followed by reconstruction and is typically performed under local anesthesia in the office setting in one day.

MMS is generally well tolerated, but post-operative pain is common. Pain peaks on the day of surgery and slowly declines in subsequent days. Risk factors for increased pain may include flap or graft repair type, location on scalp, lip, nose, or ear, younger age, and increased number of lesions treated. Post-operative pain medication is not standardized in dermatological surgery, but often includes non-narcotic analgesics including acetaminophen and ibuprofen, and less commonly narcotic analgesics such as tramadol and oxycodone. Given the current national trend to reduce opioid use, a multimodal approach to pain management has been adopted by many surgical specialties to optimize analgesia perioperatively.

The most commonly used anesthetic in MMS is local subcutaneous infiltration of lidocaine 0.5 - 2% with 1:100,000 - 1:200,000 epinephrine. Lidocaine is quick-acting, can be buffered to reduce injection pain, and is well tolerated, but the duration of action is only two hours, making it less effective for post-operative pain. Bupivacaine with epinephrine has a longer duration of action compared to lidocaine (up to four hours), but it is rarely used alone due to slower onset of action and more painful injection compared with lidocaine. Bupivacaine is used in many other surgical specialties, including general, plastic, and orthopedic surgery, as a peri-operative adjuvant and has been shown to reduce post-operative opioid use. It is generally well tolerated, carrying a class-effect risk of cardiac toxicity in high doses as does lidocaine, but has been shown to be safe in dermatologic surgery when used for wound infiltration. A newer formulation of liposomal bupivacaine has been shown to be even longer lasting and safer, with pain control up to 72 hours and no reported cardiac toxicity. In addition, a recent study has showed subcutaneous infiltration of bupivacaine with epinephrine to be an effective intra-operative pain adjuvant during MMS compared to lidocaine alone.

Pain control post-operatively in MMS may be optimized by including bupivacaine injections at the end of the surgical procedure given its long-lasting anesthetic effects. There are currently no studies addressing the use of bupivacaine as an adjuvant to control post-operative pain during MMS. The investogators propose a prospective randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of bupivacaine injection at the conclusion of surgery for reducing post-operative pain and analgesic use.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

174

Phase

  • 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
    • Missouri
      • Columbia, Missouri, United States, 65212
        • University of Missouri-Columbia

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • a. Adult (18 years or older) patients being treated with Mohs micrographic surgery will be included in this study.

    b. Surgical procedure must include one of the following:

    1. Scalp rotation/transposition/advancement flap
    2. Ear rotation/transposition/advancement/interpolation flap or wedge repair
    3. Nose rotation/transposition/advancement/interpolation flap, cartilage alar-batten graft (ear donor site)
    4. Cheek Mustarde flap

    5. Lip rotation/transposition/advancement flap, wedge repair, Abbe flap

      Exclusion Criteria:

  • c. Patients must not

    1. be pregnant or breastfeeding
    2. be taking scheduled narcotic medications
    3. use narcotics as a drug of abuse
    4. have an allergy to bupivacaine or other amide anesthetics
    5. have a contraindication to tramadol
    6. have been given narcotic pain medications during the Mohs procedure or subsequent reconstruction
    7. have multiple surgical sites treated on the same day

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
  • Masking: SINGLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Bupivicaine
Scalp flap: 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc, Ear flap or wedge repair: 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc Nose flap, 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc. Split volume between nose and donor site for melolabial interpolated flap Paramedian forehead flap: 5cc split between forehead donor site and nasal recipient site: 4cc forehead, 1cc nose Cartilage alar-batten graft (ear donor site) 1cc at auricular donor site in addition to bupivacaine used for nasal reconstruction, if any, that qualifies above Cheek Mustarde flap: 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc Lip flap, wedge repair, Abbe flap: 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc
Drug: Bupivacaine
Scalp flap: 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc, Ear flap or wedge repair: 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc Nose flap, 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc. Split volume between nose and donor site for melolabial interpolated flap Paramedian forehead flap: 5cc split between forehead donor site and nasal recipient site: 4cc forehead, 1cc nose Cartilage alar-batten graft (ear donor site) 1cc at auricular donor site in addition to bupivacaine used for nasal reconstruction, if any, that qualifies above Cheek Mustarde flap: 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc Lip flap, wedge repair, Abbe flap: 2.5cc bupivacaine for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Placebo saline
Saline in the same volume as described above for bupivicaine
Other: Placebo Saline
Scalp flap: 2.5cc salinefor 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc, Ear flap or wedge repair: 2.5cc saline for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc Nose flap, 2.5cc saline for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc. Split volume between nose and donor site for melolabial interpolated flap Paramedian forehead flap: 5cc split between forehead donor site and nasal recipient site: 4cc forehead, 1cc nose Cartilage alar-batten graft (ear donor site) 1cc at auricular donor site in addition to saline used for nasal reconstruction, if any, that qualifies above Cheek Mustarde flap: 2.5cc saline for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc Lip flap, wedge repair, Abbe flap: 2.5cc saline for 0-10cm2, additional 1cc for each additional 10cm2 up to max 5cc

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain control
Time Frame: 24 hours
Determination if bupivacaine injection postoperatively in clinical scenarios where higher postoperative pain is expected (see protocol) changes the need for narcotic medication (using a binary Yes or No measure) during first 24 hours post-surgery
24 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
48 hour pain control 1-10 scale
Time Frame: 48 hours
Postoperative pain levels (1-10 scale) during 48 hours following surgery in the intervention and control groups
48 hours
48 hour pain control drug type used if any
Time Frame: 48 hours
48 hour pain control drug type (narcotic versus nonnarcotic versus none) in the intervention and control groups
48 hours
48 hour pain control drug amount used if any
Time Frame: 48 hours
Determination of the amount (number of doses) of various pain control drugs (narcotic versus nonnarcotic versus none) needed during 48 hours following operation and calculating if there is a difference between the intervention and control groups
48 hours
Adverse effects
Time Frame: 48 hours
Documenting adverse effects, if any, from long-acting anesthetic that are different from the placebo group
48 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Missouri-Columbia

Collaborators

University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Nicholas J Golda, MD, University of Missouri School of Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

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 (ACTUAL)

July 30, 2020

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

September 30, 2021

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

September 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 16, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2020

First Posted (ACTUAL)

April 27, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

October 21, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 19, 2021

Last Verified

October 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2022277

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Patient data will be submitted from University of Pennsylvania and Columbia university to the University of Missouri primary research group for statistical analysis. The IPD will not be shared outside of this research team.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

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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