Grants We Funded
Grant applicants for the 2023 cycle requested a total of nearly $4 million dollars. The PSF Study Section Subcommittees of Basic & Translational Research and Clinical Research evaluated nearly 140 grant applications on the following topics:
The PSF awarded research grants totaling over $1 million dollars to support nearly 30 plastic surgery research proposals.
ASPS/PSF leadership is committed to continuing to provide high levels of investigator-initiated research support to ensure that plastic surgeons have the needed research resources to be pioneers and innovators in advancing the practice of medicine.
Research Abstracts
Search The PSF database to have easy access to full-text grant abstracts from past PSF-funded research projects 2003 to present. All abstracts are the work of the Principal Investigators and were retrieved from their PSF grant applications. Several different filters may be applied to locate abstracts specific to a particular focus area or PSF funding mechanism.
Preoperative Paravertebral Block in Breast Reconstruction
Chris Devulapalli MD
2014
Johns Hopkins University
Pilot Research Grant
Breast (Cosmetic / Reconstructive)
Pain management is an important aspect of high-quality care & is highly correlated with overall patient satisfaction. In patients who receive mastectomy with tissue-expander breast reconstruction, poor pain management can negatively impact quality of recovery & aspects of a patient's quality of life (QoL) after surgery. There is growing evidence that preoperative paravertebral block, a regional anesthesia technique, can significantly minimize postoperative pain in breast surgeries. Evidence for its use in breast reconstruction is not well understood or documented. Our study aims to determine if administration of pre-operative paravertebral block can reduce postoperative pain in patients undergoing breast reconstruction & result in a subsequent improvement in QoL outcome measures. Participants will undergo bilateral post-mastectomy immediate tissue expander breast reconstruction. A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial will compare patient reported pain, opioid medication use & QoL scores between patients randomized to ropivacaine (treatment) or saline (placebo) delivered via paravertebral block to the mastectomy site. QoL assessments with validated questionnaires will measure effects of paravertebral block use. We aim to establish guidelines for this paravertebral block use technique to determine how pain can be significantly improved and address any gaps in pain management in patients undergoing breast reconstruction. The use of high-level evidence from this clinical trial and its novel clinical advantage will inform plastic surgeons on the efficacy of paravertebral block in breast reconstruction and support recommendations for its adaptation to pain management strategy in breast reconstruction across institutions. With resulting improvement in pain control & overall QoL in this population, the novelty of this finding will provide a real, measurable outcome in the quality of recovery in breast cancer patients undergoing breast reconstruction.
Dr. Devulapalli is a general surgery trainee at Georgetown University Hospital. He received his undergraduate education at University of Michigan and then completed at University of Delaware, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience. He then completed his medical degree at Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Devulapalli is currently a clinical research fellow at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery under the mentorship of Dr. Gedge Rosson. His research interests include surgical outcomes following breast reconstruction, specifically geared towards quality of life (QOL) analysis among patients undergoing various breast reconstruction options, cost-benefit analysis of different breast reconstruction techniques, and nipple innervation following nipple sparing mastectomy.