Pain Medication Injected into Abdominal Muscle During Tummy Tuck?

Minimizing pain after a tummy tuck is very important in my practice.  This is typically done with oral pain medicine after the procedure, but I also inject numbing medicine into the muscles during the procedure.  This medicine is called marcaine and it's great at minimizing pain immediately after the procedure and for a long period of time afterward.  This way, you can concentrate on healing and getting back to your normal routine instead of worrying about pain control.  Even more, I place drains that are painless when they are removed and all of my stitches are dissolvable.  These things contribute greatly to making the tummy tuck experience as comfortable as possible.  Thank you for your question!  Dr. Schreiber....Baltimore plastic surgeon

If you wish to avoid narcotic pain medications then I recommend the use of Celebrex and Acetominophen (does not make you drowsy) plus intraoperative use of Exparel. Exparel is a very long-acting local anesthetic that lasts approximately 3 or more days following injection and great for Tummy Tucks and other surgeries. Not only does it prevent pain but also most muscle spasms. It lasts the same length of time that a pain pump lasts and will therefore take the place of a pain pump. This means patients can enjoy the same effect of a pain pump, but without any catheters and no pain pump to carry around.Exparel will be available for those concerned about minimizing discomfort after surgeries such as tummy tuck and breast augmentation.Exparel costs the same as a pain pump and produces the same result but with less hassle and works great. It is not "Snake Oil".

    Exparel can be injected at the time of closure for 72 hour pain relief.  This can add several hundred dollars to the cost.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA