Relieving patients' postperative pa...

Relieving patients' postperative pain for several days instead of several hours may be possible with a timed-release local anesthetic, according to an Oct 10 1999 pres release from the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Park Ridge, Ill. Microscopic spheres of bupivacaine, the chiefly commonly used local anesthetic for postoperative pain, would be injected into patients during surgical procedures

Researchers say the particles would dissolve slowly providing pain relief for several days. This may be especially important for children because local anesthetics wear opposite to sooner for them than for adults. generally this formulation is being ordealed in adults.

Bupivacaine does not dissolve readily in water, which makes it easier to originate in microsphere form, according to the release. The spheres are compos of the medication and tiny strands of a atom that the body absorbs similar to dissolvable line of junctions Researchers believe the anesthetic would be in the greatest degree useful for patients who endure surgical procedures (eg, chest, abdomen) in which numbnes for several days would not be problematic.

Timed-Release Local Anesthetics for Pain Relief Could Last for Days After Surgery (pres release, Park Ridge, III American Society of Anesthesiologists, Oct 10 1999) 1-2

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