Continuous Local Anesthetic Infusion Following Hernia Repair

Continuous Preperitoneal Infusion of Local Anesthetic Via Pain Pump for Laparoscopic Ventral Hernia Repair

The primary endpoint of this study will determine if subjects receiving a continuous infusion of local anesthetic following laparoscopic ventral hernia repair, with the pain pump installed as described to treat post surgical pain will have a lower incidence of pain than those patients treated with a placebo, saline-filled pain pump.The secondary endpoint of this study will determine if subjects receiving a continuous infusion of local anesthetic following laparoscopic ventral hernia repair, with the pain pump installed as described to treat post surgical pain will have a lower utilization of narcotic analgesic medication than those patients treated with the placebo, saline-filled pain pump.

Patients will be screened to determine study eligibility using inclusion/exclusion criteria. Following the consent process, subjects will be randomly assigned to a treatment arm (anesthetic or placebo group). Baseline data will be collected prior surgical implantation of the pain pump delivery system. Both study and control groups will be able to receive supplemental medication for breakthrough pain as determined by the surgeon. Post-operative data will be collected up to three weeks following surgery.

Patients will self-report pain assessments on questionnaires each of the first seven days post-operatively using the 4 Point Verbal Rating Scale; ranging from 1=Severe Pain, to 4=No Pain, higher scores indicating less pain, or a better outcome. Values for two daily scores were averaged for each participant, the average across 7 days is reported.

Subjects report satisfaction with how pain is managed for the first 7 days postoperatively, on a Numerical Rating Scale of 1-10; higher scores indicate less pain and greater satisfaction. Two daily scores were averaged to compute a single value for each day.

Inclusion Criteria: >18 years ASA I,II,III Scheduled for Laparoscopic Ventral Hernia Repair Exclusion Criteria: ASA IV or greater Needing emergency surgery Known history of drug abuse GI, liver, kidney or other condition which, per the surgeon's opinion, could interfere with the absorption, distribution, metabolism or excretion of any drug used during the duration of the study Patients with a prior allergic reaction or dependency to morphine, demerol, dilaudid, fentanyl, marcaine(bupivicaine), lidocaine, or ropivicaine.