Pain Management and Body Contouring

Body contouring procedure is a catchall that includes mastopexy, abdominoplasty, liposuction, and lower body lift. It is well known that optimal postoperative pain control decreases hospitalization length of stay and promotes early ambulation, which in turn decreases the incidence of complications. There have been many innovations in pain control beyond opiate medications, including prolonged administration of local anesthesia, regional blocks, and the use of a multimodal regimen which utilizes nonopiates. All approaches aim to decrease oral or intravenous opiate use and, therefore, encourage faster return to normal bowel function and decreased risk of addiction. In this article, the authors focus on opiate alternatives.