Incidence Of Chronic Postoperative Pain Research Articles

Chronic post‐thoracotomy pain: a retrospective study

Chronic pain is common after thoracotomy. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the incidence of chronic post-thoracotomy pain. The secondary goal was to identify possible risk factors associated with the development of chronic post-operative pain. We contacted 255 patients who had undergone a classic postero-lateral thoracotomy at our institution in the period between January 2001 and December 2003. All patients received a letter requesting participation; a questionnaire was included with the letter. One week later patients were contacted by telephone to obtain the answers to the questionnaire. We ultimately obtained results from 149 patients (58% of all thoracotomies, 84% of survivors). The overall incidence of chronic post-operative pain was 52% (32% mild, 16% moderate and 3% severe chronic post-operative pain). Patients with chronic post-operative pain reported acute post-operative pain more frequently than those without (85% vs. 62%, P = 0.01), had more severe acute post-operative pain (P = 0.0001), underwent more extensive surgical procedures (P = 0.01), had more constant acute pain (vs. fluctuating pain or pain in attacks) (P = 0.0004) and reported less absence of pain during the first post-operative week (P = 0.0001). There was no significant decrease in chronic pain with time after thoracotomy. Our study confirms that chronic post-thoracotomy pain is a common problem. The results from our study suggest that chronic post-thoracotomy pain may be associated with more intensive and extensive nociceptive input due to thoracic surgery.

Tisseel versus tack staples as mesh fixation in totally extraperitoneal laparoscopic repair of groin hernias

The laparoscopic repair of groin hernias generally involves mesh fixation to avoid displacement and recurrence. Fixation usually uses staples that can lead to nerve injury and chronic postoperative pain. Laparoscopic repairs are associated with a risk of chronic pain of up to 22.5%. The use of fibrin glue (Tisseel) may represent an alternative method of mesh fixation preventing the risk of nerve injury. Sixty-six patients had groin hernia repair using a totally extraperitoneal (TEP) laparoscopic procedure. Mesh fixation was achieved using 2 ml of fibrin glue. Comparison was made with an earlier series of 102 patients operated on according to the same procedure in which mesh fixation used tack staples. Complications, length of stay, recurrence, and postoperative chronic pain were assessed. No difference was found between the two series, except there was a significantly higher rate of postoperative chronic pain in the staples series (14.7 vs 4.5%, p = 0.037) and there was one recurrence (1.5%) in the fibrin glue group of patients. Fibrin glue achieved an adequate mesh fixation with a lower incidence of chronic postoperative pain. Although a prospective randomized study is needed, Tisseel appears to be an alternative to staples for mesh fixation and may help reduce the postoperative pain problems after hernia repair.

Chronic pain as an outcome of surgery. A review of predictive factors.

ONE potential adverse outcome from surgery is chronic pain. Analysis of predictive and pathologic factors is important to develop rational strategies to prevent this problem. Additionally, the natural history of patients with and without persistent pain after surgery provides an opportunity to improve the understanding of the physiology and psychology of chronic pain. Ideally, studies of chronic postoperative pain should include (1) sufficient preoperative data (assessment of pain, physiologic and psychologic risk factors for chronic pain); (2) detailed descriptions of the operative approaches used (location and length of incisions, handling of nerves and muscles); (3) the intensity and character of acute postoperative pain and its management; and (4) follow-up at intervals to 1 yr or more. In addition, there would be information about postoperative interventions that may influence pain, such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy. At long-term follow-up visits, patient function, physical signs, and symptoms would be evaluated using a standardized algorithm, including quantitative and descriptive pain assessments. We found no studies that contain all of these data. For this review, we specifically sought population data that reflect the incidence of chronic postoperative pain or predictors (medical, physiologic, and psychologic) of chronic pain. We selected five groups of surgeries (limb amputations, breast surgery, gallbladder surgery, lung surgery, and inguinal hernia surgery). These surgeries were selected because the incidence of pain is known to be high, thus improving the probability of detecting predictive factors. They also represent a range of major surgical procedures.

Peroperative Nerve Preservation During Open Hernia Repair

Background: Peroperative identification and subsequent division or preservation of the inguinal nerves during open hernia repair may influence the incidence of chronic postoperative pain. Methods: A systematic literature review was performed to identify studies investigating the influence of different types of nerve management. Results: Based on three randomized studies the pooled mean percentage of patients with chronic pain after identification and division of the ilioinguinal nerve was similar to that after identification and preservation of the ilioinguinal nerve. Two cohort studies suggested that the incidence of chronic pain was significantly lower after identification of all inguinal nerves compared with no identification of any nerve. Another cohort study reported a significant difference in the incidence of chronic pain in favour of identification and facultative pragmatic division of the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve compared with no identification at all. Conclusion: The nerves should be identified during open hernia repair. Division of and preservation of the ilioinguinal nerve show similar results. Incidence of postoperative chronic pain may be decreased by preservation of inguinal nerves in open hernia repair. DOI: 10.3329/bja.v8i1.6108 Bangladesh Journal of Anatomy January 2010, Vol. 8 No. 1 pp. 39-42