Aldrich et al: Blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled study of the efficacy of bupivacaine liposomal suspension using static bodyweight distribution and subjective pain scoring in dogs after tibial plateau leveling osteotomy surgery
Veterinary Surgery 5, 2023

🔍 Key Findings

• Liposomal bupivacaine (LB) infiltration did not reduce the need for rescue analgesia compared with placebo in dogs undergoing TPLO.
• CMPS-SF pain scores were not significantly different between LB and placebo groups at any postoperative time point.
• % body weight distribution (%BWdist) to the operated limb did not differ significantly between treatment groups across all time points.
• No correlation was found between CMPS-SF scores and %BWdist, suggesting these metrics assess different aspects of postoperative pain.
• Postoperative carprofen administration was standardized, and LB did not provide additional detectable analgesic benefit.
• Three-layer infiltration technique (joint capsule, fascia, subcutis) was used consistently across all cases.
• Adverse events were minor and comparable between LB and placebo groups.
• Post hoc analysis suggested a much larger sample size (58–436 dogs) would be needed to detect significant differences in %BWdist.