Pharmacokinetics of Levobupivacaine With Epinephrine in Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Postoperative Analgesia After Caesarean Section

(Br J Anaesth. 2018;121:469–475) Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a technique that provides postcesarean section analgesia and serves as a reasonable alternative for patients who are unable to receive neuraxial morphine. However, it often requires large volumes of local anesthetic, such as levobupivacaine, which has raised concerns about local anesthetic toxicity. Currently, there is a scarcity of information on levobupivacaine pharmacokinetics (PK) after TAP block in pregnant patients. The authors of the present study thus generated a PK model derived with data from pregnant patients after cesarean section and in healthy volunteers and compared levobupivacaine with epinephrine disposition after TAP block in both populations.
Source: Obstetric Anesthesia Digest - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Anesthesia and Analgesia: Postoperative Analgesia Source Type: research