Comparative Study of Liposomal Bupivacaine Versus Paravertebral Block for Pain Control Following Mastectomy with Immediate Tissue Expander Reconstruction

Background Several approaches to minimize postoperative pain, nausea, and enhance recovery are available for patients undergoing mastectomy with immediate tissue expander (TE) reconstruction. We compared the effectiveness of intraoperative local infiltration of liposomal bupivacaine (LB) to preoperative paravertebral block (PVB). Methods We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent mastectomy with immediate TE reconstruction between May 2012 and October 2014 and compared patients with preoperative ultrasound-guided PVB to those with intraoperative LB infiltration. Results Fifty-three patients (54.6 %) received LB and 44 received PVB. LB was associated with less opioid use in the recovery room ( p