ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT04002089Updated Jan 11, 2021

Study to Evaluate the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Safety, of EXPAREL Administered as Sciatic Nerve Block (In Popliteal Fossa), for Postsurgical Analgesia in Subjects Undergoing Bunionectomy

A Phase 1 interventional study of Exparel Injectable Product and Bupivacaine in Bunion, sponsored by Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-01-11.

Sponsored by Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was Dec 2019, 6 years 11 months ago, and no results have been posted to the registry.
Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
45
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This is a pilot, open label, single center study in 40 subjects undergoing bunionectomy. The study will assess and collect information on pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety and efficacy of EXPAREL administered as a sciatic nerve block (in popliteal fossa).

A total of 10 subjects will be enrolled in each of the 4 cohorts.

02

Conditions studied

  • Bunion

Browse trials for

03

In context

Bunion

58 studies on the registry are indexed under Bunion; 5 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 45 is below the median of 100 across 47 interventional studies indexed under Bunion.

Browse Bunion studies →

Lead sponsor

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc is the lead sponsor of 102 studies on the registry; 3 are open to participants now.

Of its 26 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 17 (65%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Healthy adult male or female volunteers ages 18 or older
  2. (ASA) physical status 1, 2, or 3
  3. Able to provide , adhere to the study schedule, and complete all study assessments.
  4. ≥18 and ≤40 kg/m2

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Allergy, , intolerance, or to any of the study medications for which an alternative is not named in the protocol (eg, amide-type local anesthetics, opioids, bupivacaine, NSAIDs)
  2. Documented history of long-term diabetes or severe peripheral vascular disease
  3. Renal (serum creatinine level >2mg/dL [176.8 μmol/L]) or hepatic dysfunction (serum alanine or aspartame transferase > 3 times the ).
  4. Concurrent painful physical condition that may require analgesic treatment (such as long-term, consistent use of opioids) in the post dosing period for pain and which, in the investigator's opinion may confound the post dosing assessments
  5. History of, suspected, or known addiction to or abuse of illicit drug(s), prescription medicine(s), or alcohol within the past 2 years
  6. Administration of an drug within 30 days or 5 elimination half-lives of such investigational drug, whichever is longer, prior to study drug administration, or planned administration of another investigational product or procedure during the subject's participation in this study
  7. Previous participation in an EXPAREL study
  8. Uncontrolled anxiety, schizophrenia, or other psychiatric disorder that, in the opinion of the investigator, could interfere with study assessments or compliance
  9. Currently pregnant, nursing, or planning to become pregnant during the study
  10. medical disease that, in the opinion of the investigator, would make participation in a clinical study inappropriate. This includes any psychiatric or other conditions that would constitute a contraindication to participation in the study
  11. Currently on neuroleptic agent [e.g., gabapentin, pregabalin (Lyrica), duloxetine (Cymbalta) etc.]
  12. Inadequate sensory function on the foot (monofilament test)
  13. Chronic opioid use in the last 30 days (≥30 morphine equivalents/ day)

    In addition, the subject may be withdrawn from the study if the subject meets the following criterion during or post-surgery:

  14. Any clinically significant event or condition uncovered during the surgery (e.g., excessive bleeding, acute sepsis) that, in the opinion of the investigator, renders the subject medically unstable or complicates the subject's post-operative course
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(8)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

ASA physical status

The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Sequential assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
45 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Cohort 1 - EXPAREL

    A total of 10 subjects will be enrolled. Subjects in this cohort will receive 266mg of EXPAREL admixed with bupivacaine.

    Drug: Exparel Injectable Product · Drug: Bupivacaine

  • Experimental
    Cohort 2 - EXPAREL

    A total of 10 subjects will be enrolled. Subjects in this cohort will receive 133mg of EXPAREL admixed with bupivacaine.

    Drug: Exparel Injectable Product · Drug: Bupivacaine

  • Experimental
    Cohort 3 - EXPAREL

    A total of 10 subjects will be enrolled. Subjects in this cohort will receive 266mg of EXPAREL only

    Drug: Exparel Injectable Product

  • Active comparator
    Cohort 4 - bupivacaine

    A total of 10 subjects will be enrolled. Subjects in this cohort will receive 100mg Bupivacaine only.

    Drug: Bupivacaine

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Pharmacokinetic 1 (Area under the plasma concentration)

    Area under the plasma concentration-versus-time curve (AUC).

    Time frame: predose (up to 15 min before block), 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), and 60 min (±15min) and 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), 1(±15min), 2(±30min), 12(±30min), 24(±1), 60(±2), 72(±2), 84(±2), 96(±3), 120(±3), 144(±3), and 168(±3) hours following block

  2. Pharmacokinetic 2 (Cmax)

    Maximum plasma concentration (Cmax)

    Time frame: predose (up to 15 min before block), 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), and 60 min (±15min) and 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), 1(±15min), 2(±30min), 12(±30min), 24(±1h), 60(±2h), 72(±2h), 84(±2h), 96(±3h), 120(±3h), 144(±3h), and 168(±3h) hours following block

  3. Pharmacokinetic 3 (half-life )

    The apparent terminal elimination half-life (t1/2el).

    Time frame: predose (up to 15 min before block), 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), and 60 min (±15min) and 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), 1(±15min), 2(±30min), 12(±30min), 24(±1h), 60(±2h), 72(±2h), 84(±2h), 96(±3h), 120(±3h), 144(±3h), and 168(±3h) hours following block

  4. Pharmacokinetic 4 (Apparent clearance)

    Apparent clearance (CL/F).

    Time frame: predose (up to 15 min before block), 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), and 60 min (±15min) and 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), 1(±15min), 2(±30min), 12(±30min), 24(±1h), 60(±2h), 72(±2h), 84(±2h), 96(±3h), 120(±3h), 144(±3h), and 168(±3h) hours following block

  5. Pharmacokinetic 5 (volume of distribution)

    Apparent volume of distribution (Vd).

    Time frame: predose (up to 15 min before block), 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), and 60 min (±15min) and 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), 1(±15min), 2(±30min), 12(±30min), 24(±1h), 60(±2h), 72(±2h), 84(±2h), 96(±3h), 120(±3h), 144(±3h), and 168(±3h) hours following block

  6. Pharmacokinetic 6 (Tmax)

    Time of Cmax (Tmax)

    Time frame: predose (up to 15 min before block), 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), and 60 min (±15min) and 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), 1(±15min), 2(±30min), 12(±30min), 24(±1h), 60(±2h), 72(±2h), 84(±2h), 96(±3h), 120(±3h), 144(±3h), and 168(±3h) hours following block

  7. Pharmacodynamic 1 (duration of sensory and motor block)

    Average duration of sensory block and motor block

    Time frame: up to 15 min before block, 15 min(±5 min), 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), and 60 min (±15min) and 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), 1(±15min), 2(±30min), 12(±30min), 24(±1), 60(±2), 72(±2), 84(±2), 96(±3), 120(±3), 144(±3), and 168(±3) hours following block

  8. Pharmacodynamic 2 (duration of sensory and motor block)

    Average duration of sensory block and motor block

    Time frame: up to 15 min before block, 15 min(±5min), 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), and 60 min (±15min) and 30 min(±5min), 45 min(±5min), 1(±15min), 2(±30min), 12(±30min), 24(±1), 60(±2), 72(±2), 84(±2), 96(±3), 120(±3), 144(±3), and 168(±3) hours following block

07

Study locations

1 site
  • First Surgical Hospital
    Bellaire, Texas 77401, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 11, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04002089
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jun 28, 2019
Start date
Jul 26, 2019
Primary completion
Dec 2, 2019
Completion
Dec 2, 2019
Last update
Jan 11, 2021

Study contacts

Nayana Nagaraj
study director · Medical Director

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jan 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Liposomal Bupivacaine · Bupivacaine

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