2019 OTA Annual Meeting: A Multicenter Randomized Trial Evaluating Liposomal Bupivacaine for Decrease of Narcotic Use in Hip Fractures

Hip fractures are very common, and pain management is an issue. Pain itself can cause this pre-disposed population to experience confusion and delirium. On the other hand, opioid medications often used to treat the pain can often have the same effects. Thus, efficacious non-opioid pain management strategies are of great interest in hip fracture patients. The investigators randomized 55 patients to receive an injection of bupivacaine or saline at the fracture site. Opioid use, pain and Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) Scores were collected at 24, 48, and 72 hours. Overall, there were no significant differences in any outcome at any time point. Though this was a small trial, there was no effect demonstrated for bupivacaine.