New clinical trial aims to optimize pain management and reduce opioid use after mastectomy
MSN highlights Cancer Center research
MSN highlighted a new University of Cincinnati Cancer Center clinical trial aimed to optimize pain management and reduce the need for opioids after mastectomy procedures.
Alicia Heelan, MD, and Bradley Budde, MD, are leading the trial, funded by a $50,000 pilot grant supported by contributions from Ride Cincinnati through the Cancer Center Pilot Project Award Program.
Patients undergoing a mastectomy often receive a pectoralis nerve block (PECS block), a pain management tool containing either bupivacaine or Exparel (liposomal bupivacaine) — both of which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration to be used for mastectomy pain management.
PECS blocks can either be administered by anesthesiologists before surgery under ultrasound guidance or by the surgeon after the mastectomy while the patient is still asleep. While both drugs and both ways to administer the PECS blocks are standards of care, no study has examined the optimal combination that is best at managing pain for patients.
The trial will enroll approximately 100 patients who will be randomized to either bupivacaine or Exparel, administered either before or during surgery. Patients will also be given non-opioid analgesic medications such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen before and after surgery to help manage their pain.
“The idea is how can we add different things to this so that we don’t need to use opioids exclusively, which is the way things were 10, 20 years ago in health care,” said Budde, a Cancer Center physician researcher and associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology in UC’s College of Medicine. “If we can minimize the amount of opioids they use, patients will ultimately do better. I think this is a really cool approach to see if timing matters and if the medication used matters.”
“I do emphasize with patients that these are all standards of care and we’re still going to treat their pain. It doesn’t mean that if they’re enrolled in the study that we’re not going to give them pain medications,” said Heelan, a Cancer Center physician researcher, vice chair for quality and assistant professor in the Department of Surgery in UC’s College of Medicine. “We’re trying to take away some of the pain as much as we can when it’s already a tough process.”
Spectrum News and HemOnc Today also covered this research.
Watch or read the Spectrum News article.
Read the HemOnc Today article.
Featured photo at top of pink Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon. Photo/Lludmila Chernetska/iStock.
Stay connected with the Cancer Center
Interested in learning more about the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center? Keep up to date by signing up for communications and newsletters based on your specific interests. Sign up for Cancer Center communications.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.