VISUAL ANALOGUE SCALE AS A TOOL FOR ASSESSING QUALITY OF LIFE (PEDSQL™) AND EMOTIONAL STRESS IN CHILDREN AFTER ANTERIOR ABDOMINAL WALL SURGERY

Abstract

Introduction. The prevalence of chronic postsurgical pain can be as high as 54%. Almost 17% of adult chronic pain patients report a history of chronic pain in childhood or adolescence. Untreated chronic pain in children increases the risk of developing mental disorders later in life. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a commonly used indicator of health and well-being that demonstrates the impact of health on quality of life and reflects the desirability of health states relative to perfect health. The simplicity, reliability, validity, and easy determination of visual analogue scale (VAS) scores provides for its wide-ranging application in various clinical cases. The aim of this study was to assess quality of life in children after anterior abdominal wall surgery using the PedsQL™ 3.0 Present Functioning Visual Analogue Scales. Materials and Methods. Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 80 children undergoing treatment at the surgical department of a Communal Non-Profit Enterprise “Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council” were enrolled in the study. Among them, 60 children underwent anterior abdominal wall surgery with various types of anesthetic regimens. The patients were asked to fill in the questionnaires repeatedly three and six months after hospital discharge. Results. According to the VAS, three and six months after surgery, quality of life was significantly lower in children who underwent anterior abdominal wall surgery under general anesthesia with opioids and were diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome (p<0.01). Their quality of life was significantly lower due to excessive emotional stress secondary to chronic pain syndrome (p<0.001). Discussion. Three months after surgery, children with chronic pain syndrome who underwent conventional anesthesia had high VAS scores experiencing reduced quality of life and elevated emotional stress as compared to the control group (p<0.001). Six months after surgery, in children who underwent regional analgesia, the levels of quality of life and emotional stress almost approached those in the control group as compared to children who underwent conventional anesthesia (p<0.001). Conclusions. Chronic pain syndrome reduced quality of life in children at the age of 7-18 years who underwent anterior abdominal wall surgery by increasing overall emotional stress. The myofascial block in conjunction with general anesthesia accelerates patient’s recovery, relieves pain, and reduces emotional stress.