Transcript
A (0:00)
At Capella University, learning online doesn't mean learning alone. You'll get support from people who care about your success, like your enrollment specialist, who gets to know you and the goals you'd like to achieve. You'll also get a designated academic coach who's with you throughout your entire program. Plus, career coaches are available to help you navigate your professional goals. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella. Edu. Welcome to the Biofreeze Performance Center. We're putting our new ultraflex lidocaine pain relief patch to the test. I'm on my flex, designed to stay in place and rigorously tested to move.
B (0:49)
All right, I think we can all agree that that there are a variety of lidocaine patches and lidocaine patch commercials on US Television. I mean, it's Salon pos or Biofreeze. You've got Shaq doing his roller lidocaine thing for his shoulder. First it's icy, then it's hot. All of those have to be very clear. Not a sponsor. But lidocaine does have a role. I mean, I'm all for it. Listen, a big muscle ache, a big muscle spasm. Spasm, you know, localized superficial pain. I think those lidocaine patches or lidocaine gels, phenomenal. I'm all for it. They have a role up to a point, but they definitely can help. Lidocaine patches are making a little bit of press regarding OB post cesarean section pain control. Now, let me explain because we've been here before with MEH kind of results. Once again, it's the emoji meh. But this is now causing new focus, a new spotlight on the potential for a very low risk, low cost intervention after cesarean section to try to reduce opioid narcotic use and to increase patient satisfaction. But oddly enough, that's where the data is the grayest. I'm gonna explain all of this in this very quick episode. Now, all of this is because in the Pink journal that jog MFM, that's the pink journal, something came out on November 13, 2025, ahead of print. Now, this is a systematic review and meta analysis that's looking at lidocaine patches after cesarean delivery. And it looked at previous randomized control trials and did this at a meta as a meta analysis. Now, if you follow the data, you may remember, like, wait, haven't we done this before? Totally. There was actually a previous systematic review, just a systematic review in 2019, which we're going to cover. Then there was a meta analysis in 2022, another one in 2023, and now this one in 2025. Y'. All. That's four kind of different reviews. Three are systematic reviews and meta analysis. The earliest one, 2019, is just a systematic review. Who've looked at this? And it's so interesting. When you look at these things that are taken a piecemeal in a timeline, but look at them collectively, you're like, huh, What? And that's what we're going to answer here. This huh? And what response to lidocaine patches after C section? I'll be very clear. No one is advocating just for lidocaine patches after C section. Like, hey, you had a major C section, major abdominal surgery, there's your patch, off you go, off you go. Shoo, shoo. No, no, no. It's just an alternative slash adjuvant in the first 24, maybe 36 hours where the benefit seems to be to try to reduce opioid analgesia. Now that's the catch is does it actually reduce opioid analgesia? Does it actually improve patient satisfaction? And both of those answers. Let me just spoil it for you right now. We're getting into the data here. Just a minute. Is meh. Now, I gotta be very clear. I'm very for this. I think this is low cost, low risk. Why not? One of these patches can go on top of the fan steel incision or they can be applied under the incision. Typically it's just one patch at a time and then replacing it based on whatever manufacturer you're using after so many hours. But so it does have a role and at the same time it's limited. So we have to know what to expect from these patches as an adjuvant, what they do and what they just can't do based on the data. So while we're going to highlight this brand new systematic review and meta analysis from the Pink Journal that came out on November 13, 2025, and as point of reference, it's now November 17, 2025. We're also going to lay down this timeline very quickly. Trust me, it's going to be fast. Just to give you a snapshot of the yes, this thing works, but answer regarding this yes, this thing works, but answer regarding lidocaine patches after C section. It's interesting how people look at this in different ways. I mean, we've got one systematic review that used like 19. Was it 19? 16, 16 RCTs in one review, 16 RCTs that were looked at that was back in 2023. And then this latest systematic review and meta analysis looked at a whopping three RCTs and you're like why? Why? Well, it all depends on what they're looking for, what their criteria is, how they designed it. But this is where things get confusing. It would be nice if they all showed the same thing. And they generally do. Let me be very clear. They generally do, but they also kind of fall short of those two main quality factors. Do they use less opioids overall and do they overall improve patient satisfaction? And the answer is not. So again, I'm be very clear. While we're going to highlight the brand new November 2025 piece, we're going to set this up after the break by doing 2019 first and then we're going to do 2022 and then 2023 just to let you know how varied this is. And again, just to be clear, I am all for it. I I think it works with its accepted known limitations. All right, I think I've set it up enough. Let's get out of this. Listen to a little biofreeze, not a sponsor and we'll be right back.
