Relationship Between Pain Severity in Post-Caesarean Section and Its Preoperative Factors

Abstract

Background: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the global prevalence of cesarean section (C-section) reaches 21% of all deliveries and is expected to increase to 29% by 2030. This major surgery is associated with moderate to severe postoperative pain. Previous studies have shown that factors such as emergency cases, preoperative anxiety, previous C-sections, length of surgery, type of anesthesia, and pain medication are all important factors contributing to post-C-section pain.Objective: To identify preoperative factors that affect post-cesarean pain, including age, gravida, previous C-section, anthropometry, preeclampsia (PE), fetal malposition, premature rupture of the membranes (PROM), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), malnutrition, preterm labor, hepatitis B, anemia, and emergency procedure.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at dr. Soehadi Prijonegoro Hospital, Sragen, Indonesia. The inclusion criteria are: (1) willing to participate in this study, (2) age more than 18 years old, (3) cooperative and communicative, and (4) not in disability condition. We analyzed the data using Wilcoxon and Spearman's tests with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. This research has conducted ethical approval by the Ethics Committee.Results: From 30 subjects, the age spread between 22 to 44 years, with 20% being older than 35 years pregnant women. Most patients experienced moderate (Numeric Rating Scale [NRS] 4 to 6: 60%) and severe pain (NRS 7 to 10: 30%) 12 hours after surgery. While at 24 hours, the majority experienced mild (NRS 1 to 3: 36.7%) to moderate pain (NRS 4 to 6: 46.7%). Our analysis did not identify any preoperative factors significantly related to pain levels after 12- and 24-hours following C-section (p > 0.05).Conclusion: There is no relationship between preoperative factors and postoperative pain. Nonetheless, pain management should be tailored to each patient’s clinical condition.