A risk index comprising capacity overload, preoperative pain, acute pain, and stress symptoms predicted chronic post-surgical pain, which occurred in 43.3% of patients at 6 months.
Observational (n=150)
Can a multifactorial risk index predict the development of chronic post-surgical pain in patients undergoing surgery?
A novel risk index based on five easily assessable perioperative characteristics can predict the development of chronic post-surgical pain, potentially guiding tailored pain management.
The incidence of chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) after various common operations is 10% to 50%. Identification of patients at risk of developing chronic pain, and the management and prevention of CPSP remains inadequate. The aim of this study was to develop an easily applicable risk index for the detection of high-risk patients that takes into account the multifactorial aetiology of CPSP. A comprehensive item pool was derived from a systematic literature search. Items that turned out significant in bivariate analyses were then analysed multivariately, using logistic regression analyses. The items that yielded significant predictors in the multivariate analyses were compiled into an index. The cut-off score for a high risk of developing CPSP with an optimal trade-off between sensitivity and specificity was identified. The data of 150 patients who underwent different types of surgery were included in the analyses. Six months after surgery, 43.3% of the patients reported CPSP. Five predictors multivariately contributed to the prediction of CPSP: capacity overload, preoperative pain in the operating field, other chronic preoperative pain, post-surgical acute pain and co-morbid stress symptoms. These results suggest that several easily assessable preoperative and perioperative patient characteristics can predict a patient's risk of developing CPSP. The risk index may help caregivers to tailor individual pain management and to assist high-risk patients with pain coping.
Althaus et al. (Fri,) conducted a observational in Chronic post-surgical pain (n=150). Preoperative and perioperative risk factors was evaluated on Development of chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP). A risk index comprising capacity overload, preoperative pain, acute pain, and stress symptoms predicted chronic post-surgical pain, which occurred in 43.3% of patients at 6 months.