Estimation of Chronic post-surgical pain after thoracic surgery: case closed?

I read with great interest the article of Gjeilo and colleagues in a recent issue of the journal (1). The authors completed a prospective study on 264 patients undergoing surgery for primary lung cancer and concluded that pain was highly prevalent after surgery, and subgroups could be identified based on different pain trajectories. The authors should be commended for performing a well-designed study in an important topic (e.g. pain) in patients undergoing surgery (2, 3). The need to identify the highest risk patients so specific preventive analgesic strategies can be tailored to patients who will benefit the most is a very pertinent topic in perioperative medicine (4, 5).
Source: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management - Category: Palliative Care Authors: Source Type: research