The Efficacy and Safety of Liposomal Bupivacaine for Transversus Abdominis Plane Block in Relieving Postoperative Pain After Laparoscopic Surgery in Gynecologic Oncology

The Efficacy and Safety of Liposomal Bupivacaine Plus Bupivacaine Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Postoperative Pain in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Surgery in Gynecologic Oncology:A Multi-Center Randomized Controlled Trial

Laparoscopic surgery, characterized by minimal invasiveness, rapid recovery, and shorter hospital stays, has been widely adopted in Gynecologic Oncology. However, the elevation and stretching of the diaphragm following pneumoperitoneum, combined with increased intra-abdominal pressure compressing visceral organs and causing ischemia-hypoxia, can trigger systemic inflammatory responses and lead to postoperLaparoscopic surgery, characterized by minimal invasiveness, rapid recovery, and shorter hospital stays, has been widely adopted in gynecological procedures. However, the elevation and stretching of the diaphragm following pneumoperitoneum, combined with increased intra-abdominal pressure compressing visceral organs and causing ischemia-hypoxia, can trigger systemic inflammatory responses and lead to postoperative pain. Inadequate or delayed pain management may prolong hospitalization, and some patients may develop chronic pain, resulting in altered behavioral patterns. As one of the analgesic strategies after abdominal surgery, transversus abdominis plane block (TAPB) not only reduces opioid consumption and the incidence of complications but also avoids adverse effects associated with epidural analgesia. Nevertheless, the analgesic duration provided by a single-injection TAPB is limited, while continuous TAPB faces constraints in clinical application due to challenges such as catheter fixation.Inadequate or delayed pain management may prolong hospitalization, and some patients may develop chronic pain, resulting in altered behavioral patterns. As one of the analgesic strategies after abdominal surgery, TAPB not only reduces opioid consumption and the incidence of complications but also avoids adverse effects associated with epidural analgesia. Nevertheless, the analgesic duration provided by a single-injection TAPB is limited, while continuous TAPB faces constraints in clinical application due to challenges such as catheter fixation. Liposomal bupivacaine(LB) is a novel, long-acting, sustained-release amide-type local anesthetic, providing localized analgesic effects for up to 72 hours.However, its efficacy and safety in laparoscopic surgery not yet been fully validated. Based on this premise, the present study aims to evaluate and compare the clinical outcomes of Ultrasound-guided TAPB utilizing liposomal bupivacaine plus bupivacaine for postoperative pain management in patients undergoing Laparoscopic Surgery in Gynecologic Oncology.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Laparoscopic Surgery; Transversus Abdominis Plane Block; Gynecologic Oncology Patient; Liposomal Bupivacaine
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Bupivacaine hydrochloride; Drug: Liposomal bupivacaine plus bupivacaine

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 110
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Fang Luo; Phone Number: +86 13611326978; Email: 13611326978@163.com

Study Locations

• China
  • Beijing Municipality
    • Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China, 100070
      • Recruiting
      • Beijing Tiantan Hospital
      • Contact: Fang Luo; Phone Number: +86 13611326978; Email: 13611326978@163.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients scheduled for elective Laparoscopic Surgery in Gynecologic Oncology under general anesthesia;
2. Ages 18 to 64 years old；
3. American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status of I-III；
4. Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 15；
5. Patients must be able to understand the nature and potential personal consequences of the clinical trial, signing of the informed consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. History of chronic pain syndrome of any cause.
2. Patients with heart conduction block (sinus block or atrioventricular block).
3. Patients with unstable coronary artery disease.
4. Patients with gastric ulcer or gastric bleeding.
5. Patients with diabetes and are being treated with insulin.
6. Subjects with coagulation dysfunction (prothrombin time or activated partial thromboplastin time is higher than the normal threshold) or patients who are taking oral anticoagulants for other medical reasons and have not stopped it before surgery, such as warfarin or new anticoagulants rivaroxaban or dabigatran.
7. Patients with abnormal liver function: alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) > 2× the upper limit of normal (ULN) or total bilirubin (TBIL) ≥ 1.5×ULN.
8. Patients with renal impairment (serum creatinine > 176 µmol/L) or receiving dialysis treatment within 28 days before surgery.
9. Patients with a history of diagnosed mental illness or currently taking psychotropic medication.
10. Excessive alcohol or drug abuse, chronic opioid use (more than 2 weeks or 3 days per week for more than 1 month), use of drugs with confirmed or suspected sedative or analgesic effects, or use of any painkiller within 24 h before surgery.
11. Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
12. Extreme body mass index (BMI) (< 15 or > 35).
13. Participation in another interventional trial that interferes with the intervention or outcome of this trial.
14. Patients with a history of allergy to local anaesthetics or one of the study drugs.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Bupivacaine hydrochloride	Drug: Bupivacaine hydrochloride; Prior to surgical incision, the Doppler ultrasound-guided injection technique will be employed. A bilateral transverse abdominis plane block(TAPB) will be performed using a 22-gauge block needle, with 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine administered per side. The patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump solution consists of 100 μg sufentanil and 16 mg ondansetron diluted with normal saline to a total volume of 100 mL. Postoperatively, patients may self-administer a 2-mL bolus per demand, with a lockout interval of 10 minutes. Should analgesia remain inadequate after four consecutive boluses, one tablet of oxycodone-acetaminophen(containing 5 mg oxycodone hydrochloride and 325 mg acetaminophen) may be administered orally, with a minimum repeat dosing interval of 6 hours. For persistent pain, intravenous morphine 5 mg may be administered at intervals no shorter than 4 hours.
Experimental: Liposomal bupivacaine plus bupivacaine	Drug: Liposomal bupivacaine plus bupivacaine; Prior to surgical incision, the Doppler ultrasound-guided injection technique will be employed. A bilateral transverse abdominis plane block(TAPB) will be performed using a 22-gauge block needle, 20 mL (266 mg) of liposomal bupivacaine will be mixed with 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine hydrochloride (50 mg, diluted in normal saline) to prepare a 40 mL solution. A volume of 20 mL will be administered to each side.The patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump solution consists of 100 μg sufentanil and 16 mg ondansetron diluted with normal saline to a total volume of 100 mL. Postoperatively, patients may self-administer a 2-mL bolus per demand, with a lockout interval of 10 minutes. Should analgesia remain inadequate after four consecutive boluses, one tablet of oxycodone-acetaminophen may be administered orally, with a minimum repeat dosing interval of 6 hours. For persistent pain, intravenous morphine 5 mg may be administered at intervals no shorter than 4 hours.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Intravenous Morphine Equivalents of Rescue Analgesic Medications Within 48 Hours Postoperatively	The postoperative period 48 hours.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Area Under the Curve (AUC) of Numeric Rating Scale at rest (NRSr) Within 0-72 Hours Postoperatively	The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) designates 0 as representing no pain and 10 as representing the most severe pain; scores of 1-3 indicate mild pain, 4-6 denote moderate pain, and 7-10 signify severe pain.	Data will be collected at 2 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours postoperatively.
Numeric Rating Scale at rest (NRSr) at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively	The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) designates 0 as representing no pain and 10 as representing the most severe pain; scores of 1-3 indicate mild pain, 4-6 denote moderate pain, and 7-10 signify severe pain.	Postoperative day 7, month 1, and month 3.
Time to request of first analgesia		Within 48 hours postoperatively.
Cumulative sufentanil dose for four separate periods (0-4, 4-8, 8-24, and 24-48 h), a total press count including both valid and invalid presses		Postoperative Hours 4, 8, 24, and 48.
Duration days of Oral Oxycodone and Acetaminophen Tablets Administration		Within 3 months postoperatively.
Ramsay Sedation Scale，RSS	The RSS utilizes a six-point scale to evaluate sedation levels. The total score ranges from 1 to 6 as follows: anxious or agitated (1 point); oriented, calm, and cooperative (2 points); responsive to commands (3 points); drowsy with brisk response to glabellar tap or loud auditory stimulus (4 points); drowsy with sluggish response to glabellar tap or loud auditory stimulus (5 points)；and drowsy with no response whatsoever（6）points. A score of 1 reflects inadequate sedation, scores of 2 to 4 indicate satisfactory sedation, while scores of 5 to 6 denote oversedation.	Postoperative at 2 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours.
Quality of Recovery-40，QoR-40	The Quality of Recovery-40 (QoR-40) serves as a globally recognized metric for evaluating the quality of recovery. It encompasses five dimensions-emotional state, physical comfort, physiological independence, psychological support, and pain-comprising a total of 40 items, each rated on a 1-5 scoring scale. The overall QoR-40 score ranges from 40 (indicating extremely poor recovery quality) to 200 (representing excellent recovery quality).	Postoperative hours 24, 48, and 72.
Length of Stay (LOS)		Perioperation.
Total hospitalization expenses incurred during the patient's inpatient stay		Perioperation.
Postoperative nausea and vomiting，PONV		Postoperatively within 72 hours.
Adverse events，AEs	Systemic Toxicity of Local Anesthetics (LAST), localized hematoma, pruritus, hypotension, arrhythmia, delirium, etl.	Within 72 hours postoperatively.
Area under the curve (AUC) of the Numerical Rating Scale during movement (NRSm) within 0-72 hours postoperatively	The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) designates 0 as representing no pain and 10 as representing the most severe pain; scores of 1-3 indicate mild pain, 4-6 denote moderate pain, and 7-10 signify severe pain.	Data will be collected at 2 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours postoperatively.
Numeric Rating Scale during movement (NRSm) at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively	The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) designates 0 as representing no pain and 10 as representing the most severe pain; scores of 1-3 indicate mild pain, 4-6 denote moderate pain, and 7-10 signify severe pain.	Postoperative day 7, month 1, and month 3.
Total dosage of orally oxycodone and acetaminophen tablets		Within 3 months postoperatively.
Patient Satisfaction Scale，PSS	Patient Satisfaction Scale(PSS) on a scale ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 denotes "completely dissatisfied" and 10 signifies "extremely satisfied."	Postoperative hours 2, 24, 48, and 72; week 1; month 1; and month 3.
The duration of stay in the post-anesthesia care unit（PACU）	The time from the end of surgery until the patient regains consciousness and has stable vital signs after extubating and is subsequently transferred back to the ward.	The time from the end of surgery until transferred back to the ward.Typically, patients are transferred back to the ward after approximately 30 to 60 minute.
Intraoperative Anesthetic Dosage		During the surgical anesthesia phase.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Beijing Tiantan Hospital

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Korkmaz Toker M, Altiparmak B, Uysal AI, Demirbilek SG. The analgesic efficacy of oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block after laparoscopic hysterectomy: A randomized, controlled, observer-blinded study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Jan;98(1):e13994. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000013994.
• Hutchins J, Vogel RI, Ghebre R, McNally A, Downs LS Jr, Gryzmala E, Geller MA. Ultrasound-guided subcostal transversus abdominis plane infiltration with liposomal bupivacaine for patients undergoing robotic-assisted hysterectomy: a retrospective study. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2015 Jun;25(5):937-41. doi: 10.1097/IGC.0000000000000429.
• McDonald V, Wang Y, Patel A, Betcher R, Fontenot AC, Scoggin S, Black D. Laparoscopic guided liposomal bupivacaine injection compared to transversus abdominus plane block for postoperative pain after robotic gynecologic oncology surgery. Gynecol Oncol. 2022 Sep;166(3):432-437. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2022.06.006. Epub 2022 Jul 9.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 10, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 4, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 4, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 17, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Organic Chemicals; Anilides; Amides; Aniline Compounds; Amines; Bupivacaine
• Other Study ID Numbers: KY2025-289-02-6

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article, after de-identification (text, tables, figures and appendices) are available. Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author Fang Luo on request.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No