The study, which was designed to establish the safety and pharmacokinetics (PK) of EXPAREL in a pediatric population, found the PK profile was comparable across age groups and generally consistent with the profile in adult patients. No safety concerns were identified at a dose of 4 mg/kg. Key findings include: "Traditionally, clinicians seeking pain control in pediatric patients have been forced to choose between opioids or traditional local anesthetics that require the use of cumbersome catheters or pumps to provide the duration of pain control needed in historically painful surgical procedures," said Christopher Tirotta, MD, Chief of Anesthesiology at Nicklaus Children's Hospital and lead author in the PLAY study. "The results from this study demonstrate the excellent safety profile of EXPAREL, which provides prolonged pain control and offers versatility of administration without many of the unwanted side effects that often come with opioids."