Evaluation of effective factors on pain in patients undergoing sleep apnea surgery

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting postoperative pain. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on patients referred to the hospital to determine the factors affecting postoperative pain for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Patients' information was recorded: age, sex, weight, height, body mass index, duration of surgery, possible complications, and anesthesia. Patients were evaluated for pain according to VAS criteria. The first time a patient requested a drug was recorded in 24 hours after surgery and data was then analyzed. Results: A total of 40 patients were enrolled in the study, including 14 women (35%) and 26 men (65%). The mean age of patients was 41.55 ± 7.43 years. Examination of the relationships between other variables with patients' pain intensity showed a statistically significant difference between patients' pain intensity with other variables such as history of stroke (P = 0.005), history of cardiovascular disease (P = 0.048), history of drug abuse (P = 0.046) and type of analgesia received after surgery (P = 0.032). In multivariate analysis of the studied data, no statistically significant relationship was found between any of the variables with the intensity of patients' postoperative pain. The variances of height, weight, body mass index, duration of surgery and the first time of application of analgesic after surgery did not differ in different groups of pain intensity variables. But a significant difference was found between the two variables of age and pain intensity of patients (P <0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study showed a statistically significant difference in pain intensity with a history of stroke, cardiovascular disease, history of drug abuse and also the type of analgesia received after surgery. The serious complications caused by tolerating acute postoperative pain, especially the long-term effects of experiencing severe pain, necessitates more attention to pain control.