AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc announces the results of a study evaluating sufentanil sublingual tablet 30 mcg (SST) for outpatient plastic surgery. The study was presented during the Miami Cosmetic Surgery (MCS) conference on Friday, August 27, at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida.
The presentation by Azza Halim, MD, and Hisham Seify, MD, PhD, FACS, shared data on the administration of SST and its effect on reducing postoperative recovery time and opioid use in the outpatient plastic surgery setting in patients undergoing “awake” procedures not under general anesthesia.
The authors were presented with a MCS 2021 Maverick Program Award in which the recipients’ “progressive, innovative ideas have been recognized for the lasting impact they will have on medical aesthetics.”
Protocol Details
The presentation detailed the protocol for dosing SST 30 minutes prior to starting awake plastic surgery procedures. A total of 25 cases were analyzed, with an average patient age of 46.1 ± 2.4 years and 92% were female. The cases were mainly liposuction (68%), followed by facelifts (12%), blepharoplasties (8%) and 3 other cases with an average duration of 1 hr 24 min ± 10 min.
Following the preoperative SST dose and local anesthetic infiltration, no other analgesics were required throughout the intraoperative and recovery period with recovery time averaging 15 ± 5 min. There were 2 cases of nausea, only one of which required treatment with ondansetron 4 mg oral disintegrating tablet, and no cases of vomiting or any other adverse events.
The presenters emphasized the reduction in opioid use and recovery time that the addition of SST has had on their practice.
Dr. Halim is a board-certified anesthesiologist who specializes in cosmetic surgeries. Dr. Seify is a board-certified plastic surgeon and the past-president of the Orange County Society of Plastic Surgeons.
“Dosing a single preoperative SST allowed us to avoid any additional analgesic administration during both the intraoperative and recovery periods, which resulted in these patients being ready for discharge almost immediately following these fairly lengthy procedures. The low rate of side effects also avoided prolonged delays during recovery.”
— Hisham Seify, MD, PhD, FACS
Dr. Seify is a paid consultant for AcelRx but was not compensated for this study. Dr. Halim is not a paid consultant for AcelRx. Limitations of this study are that it was a single-arm, open-label case series.
[Source(s): AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc, PR Newswire]
