Key result
The overall prevalence of chronic postsurgical pain 5 years after cardiac surgery was 3.8% (14/373), with 63% of patients who reported pain at 12 months no longer reporting it at 5 years.
Cohort (n=534)
The prevalence of chronic postsurgical pain 5 years after cardiac surgery is low (3.8%), with the majority of patients who had pain at 12 months experiencing resolution by 5 years.
Supports monitoring CPSP at 12 months post-cardiac surgery; leaves open predictors of persistence in observational data.
BACKGROUND: Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is a common complication after many surgical procedures, including cardiac surgery. The prevalence of CPSP after cardiac surgery ranges from 9.5% to 56%. Most studies on CPSP after cardiac surgery are retrospective and long-term prospective studies are scarce. The aim of this study was to follow CPSP and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) prospectively in a cohort of patients, emphasizing the prevalence from 12 months to 5 years. METHODS: A total of 534 patients (23% ≥75 years, 67% men) were consecutively included before surgery. Study-specific questionnaires and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) were used to measure CPSP at baseline, 12 months and 5-year follow-up. Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) was used to measure HRQOL. RESULTS: Among 458 patients who were alive after 5 years, 82% responded (n = 373). The majority, 89.8% (335/373), did not report CPSP, neither 12 months nor 5 years after surgery. Among the 38 patients who reported CPSP after 12 months, 24 (63%) patients did not report CPSP after 5 years. The overall prevalence of CPSP after 5 years was 3.8% (14/373). Patients reporting CPSP and resolved CPSP had lower scores on HRQOL and more pain preoperatively than patients who did not report CPSP. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of CPSP was lower in this study than previously reported. Among the patients reporting CPSP at 12 months, 63% did not report CPSP after 5 years. Hence, the observed decline in CPSP is in line with studies evaluating CPSP in noncardiac surgery. SIGNIFICANCE: The prevalence of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) at 5 years after surgery of 3.8% is lower than previously reported. The majority of patients reporting CPSP after 12 months did not report CPSP after 5 years.
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Gjeilo et al. (2016) conducted a cohort in Chronic postsurgical pain after cardiac surgery (n=534). Cardiac surgery was evaluated on Prevalence of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) after 5 years. The overall prevalence of chronic postsurgical pain 5 years after cardiac surgery was 3.8% (14/373), with 63% of patients who reported pain at 12 months no longer reporting it at 5 years.
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