Surgical treatment of adhesion-related chronic abdominal and pelvic pain after gynaecological and general surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<span class="paragraphSection"><div class="boxTitle">Abstract</div><div class="boxTitle">BACKGROUND</div>Chronic pain is a frequent post-operative complication, affecting ~20 –40% of patients who have undergone surgery of the female genital or alimentary tract. Chronic pain is an important risk factor for diminished quality of life after surgery. Adhesions are frequently associated with chronic post-operative pain; however, surgical treatment of adhesion-related pain i s controversial.<div class="boxTitle">OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE</div>The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and harms of surgical interventions for chronic post-operative pain attributable to adhesions.<div class="boxTitle">SEARCH METHODS</div>A search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE and CENTRAL, without restrictions pertaining to date, publication status or language. Randomized trials and cohort studies from all surgical interventions for chronic post-operative pain were considered eligible. Patients with a concomitant diagnosis that could cause chronic pain (e.g. endometriosis or inflammatory conditions) were excluded. Outcome measures were graded according to clinical relevance, with improvement of pain at long-term follow-up regarded as most clinically relevant.<div class="boxTitle">OUTCOMES</div>A total of 4294 unique citations were identified, of which 13 studies met the criteria for inclusion. Two of the analysed studies ...
Source: Human Reproduction Update - Category: OBGYN Source Type: research