Psychophysical and psychological predictors of acute pain after breast surgery differ in patients with and without pre-existing chronic pain

Abstract: The prediction of acute postoperative pain would be of great clinical advantage, but results of studies investigating possible predictors are inconsistent. Here, we studied the role of a wide variety of previously suggested predictors in 74 patients undergoing breast surgery. Preoperatively, patients filled out the Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire (PSQ) and a set of psychological questionnaires (the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI], State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI], and Pain Catastrophizing Scale [PCS]) and participated in an experimental pain testing session, including assessment of conditioned pain modulation (CPM), temporal summation, and responses to heat, pinprick, and pressure pain. Postoperatively, patients reported pain intensity. Stepwise linear regression analysis was used to test for prediction of maximal pain on postoperative day 1 in the whole cohort and in the subgroups of patients with and without pre-existing chronic pain. In the total group, linear regression identified only the expectation of postoperative pain intensity as significant predictor (F[1,65] = 6.5, P
Source: Pain - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research