Abstract
Background. Enucleation is a psychologically and physically traumatic event associated with chronic pain. It would be desirable to better predict which patients will have pain after surgery. Methods. A cross-sectional postal questionnaire study of adults undergoing enucleation captured the demographic details, Pain Quality Assessment Scale (PQAS), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and the Facial Pain Assessment questionnaire. Patients were classified as suffering from chronic pain if they reported a pain score of >1 out of 10 on the numerical pain score (NRS). Results. Seventeen of 60 adults participated in the study. 47% of patients reported chronic pain (mean pain score = 1.4 ± 0.7, n = 17); 25% experienced pain daily. No difference in age, surgical side, reason for surgery, or the duration of time since the surgery was noted. All patients had low PQAS scores and 50% of individuals with persistent pain were concerned about their facial appearance. There was no significant difference in the level of catastrophization noted in patients with or without pain or between the subgroups (rumination, magnification, or helplessness). Conclusions. Although persistent pain following enucleation affected a significant number of patients, the pain intensity was mild. Enucleation influenced the physical perception some individuals had of themselves.
Highlights
Enucleation is often the final step in a complicated series of eye disease treatments
Persistent postsurgical pain affects between 10% and 50% of patients after enucleation [7]
Twenty-eight patients agreed by phone to participate in the study, but 11 of them failed to reply
Summary
Enucleation is often the final step in a complicated series of eye disease treatments. Ocular surgery has being shown to have a significant impact on the quality of life and function of affected individuals [1]. It is usually effective in resolving pain [2, 3], but not always [4, 5]. Persistent postsurgical pain (defined by the International Association of the Study of Pain as pain that develops after surgery and has been present for at least 3 months [6]) affects between 10% and 50% of patients after enucleation [7]. All patients had low PQAS scores and 50% of individuals with persistent pain were concerned about their facial appearance. Enucleation influenced the physical perception some individuals had of themselves
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