We thank Dr. Pace1 for selecting our publication2 highlighting the lack of difference between liposomal and plain bupivacaine, and presenting alternative findings that are based on the differences between the frequentist and Bayesian approaches for meta-analyses. We present in this reply a few of our thoughts on the different analyses.
First, while we have limited awareness of the use of the Bayesian method as a mainstream approach in meta-analyses, we are familiar with the nascent3,4 Bayesian statistics that are slowly gaining popularity as an alternative analytic method.
Second, for acute pain meta-analyses comparing two different interventions where the mean of a group of data (i.e., randomized trials) is most important, a frequentist analysis may be better suited for the clinician. In contrast, a Bayesian model may be more applicable for those clinicians wishing to evaluate the probability that a certain intervention will be...
