2016 AAOS Annual Meeting: Topical Injection and Infusion for Pain Management of Lumbar Spine Surgery

140 patients undergoing spinal fusion were randomized to receive a topical injection and infusion intraoperatively (bupivacaine, tromethamine, morphine, adrenalin) or to a control group that did not receive an intervention. The purpose of this study was to analyze the efficacy of this treatment in managing pain at up to 3 days postoperatively. The results of this study demonstrated that a significantly greater number of patients receiving the intervention displayed pain relief during the initial 24 postoperative hours when compared to the control group. The intervention group additionally had significantly fewer patients requiring patient controlled analgesia during the 3-day follow-up.