The impact of early postoperative pain on health-related quality of life.

OBJECTIVES: To examine how the severity of postoperative pain affects patient's health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at 1 week following surgery and to compare two generic validated HRQoL instruments. METHODS: Patients undergoing general or orthopaedic surgery at the Royal London Hospital were randomly sampled. The following patient outcome data were collected EQ-5D (EuroQoL) pre-operatively and the Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire (APS-POQ-R) at 24 hours postoperation; and EQ-5D, Short-Form-12 (SF-12) and APS-POQ-R at 7 days postoperation. The degree of association between pain and HRQoL was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and multivariate generalized linear regression models. RESULTS: Of the 228 patients included, 166 patients provided data at 7 days. Sixteen percent reported severe pain ≥ 50% of the day at 7 days. The severity of pain on both the APS-POQ-R pain severity and interference and affective impairment domains at 7 days was highly correlated with a decrease in HRQoL as assessed by the SF-12 Physical Component Score (PCS), SF-12 Mental Component Score (MCS), and EQ-5D scores (r = -0.34 to -0.61, P < 0.0001). Multivariate regression analyses showed that irrespective of confounding factors (eg, age, gender, and pre-operative HRQoL) patients with severe postoperative pain experience important reductions in both physical and mental well-being domains of their HRQoL. CONCLUSIONS: A proportion of patients continue to experience severe pain at 7 days postoperatively, even after minor surgery. HRQoL is strongly associated with the level of pain and provides additional data on the impact of postsurgery pain on patient's function and well-being. Additional studies are needed to elucidate the interaction between pain severity and HRQoL during the peri-operative period.

A pilot study investigating whether quantitative sensory testing alters after treatment in patients with fibromyalgia.

BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia is a chronic musculoskeletal pain condition that is often associated with sleep disturbances and fatigue. The pathophysiology of fibromyalgia is not understood, but indirect evidence suggests a central dysfunction of the nociceptive modulating system. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether quantitative sensory testing detects a change in pain thresholds in fibromyalgia patient receiving pregabalin treatment. METHODS: A total of 25 patients were recruited for the study and received routine pregabalin, but only 14 patients completed the treatment. Assessment of pressure pain thresholds and changes in conditioned pain modulation using ischaemic pain as a conditioning stimulus were measured at baseline and every 4 weeks for 12 weeks. Fibromyalgia impact questionnaire, PainDETECT and SF-12 were also completed. RESULTS: Patients with fibromyalgia demonstrated a less-efficient conditioned pain modulation at baseline. An efficient conditioned pain modulation was observed at 1 month and this was maintained until the final visit. Pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) showed a significant improvement from baseline. Patients also reported a similar magnitude of improvements in PainDETECT, fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ) and its impact on daily life and change in outcome for SF-12. CONCLUSION: This pilot study reports an increase in PPTs and improved conditioned pain modulation response after commencing pregabalin, which was maintained at 12 weeks, and this was supported by positive pain scores. Pregabalin is a licenced treatment for fibromyalgia in Europe, and its response to central sensitisation, particularly 'dynamic responses', has not been reported. We conclude that pregabalin has the potential to reduce peripheral and central sensitisation in patients with fibromyalgia, as measured using quantitative sensory testing.

Correlates of satisfaction with pain treatment in the acute postoperative period: results from the international PAIN OUT registry.

Patient ratings of satisfaction with their postoperative pain treatment tend to be high even in those with substantial pain. Determinants are poorly understood and have not previously been studied in large-scale, international datasets. PAIN OUT, a European Union-funded acute pain registry and research project, collects patient-reported outcome data on postoperative day 1 using the self-reported International Pain Outcome Questionnaire (IPO), and patient, clinical, and treatment characteristics. We investigated correlates of satisfaction and consistency of effects across centres and countries using multilevel regression modelling. Our sample comprised 16,868 patients (median age 55 years; 55% female) from 42 centres in 11 European countries plus Israel, USA, and Malaysia, who underwent a wide range of surgical procedures, for example, joint, limb, and digestive tract surgeries. Median satisfaction was 9 (interquartile range 7-10) on a 0-10 scale. Three IPO items showed strong associations and explained 35% of the variability present in the satisfaction variable: more pain relief received, higher allowed participation in pain treatment decisions, and no desire to have received more pain treatment. Patient factors and additional IPO items reflecting pain experience (eg, worst pain intensity), pain-related impairment, and information on pain treatment added little explanatory value, partially due to covariate correlations. Effects were highly consistent across centres and countries. We conclude that satisfaction with postoperative pain treatment is associated with the patients' actual pain experience, but more strongly with impressions of improvement and appropriateness of care. To the degree they desire, patients should be provided with information and involved in pain treatment decisions.

PAIN OUT: an international acute pain registry supporting clinicians in decision making and in quality improvement activities.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Management of post-operative pain is unsatisfactory worldwide. An estimated 240 million patients undergo surgery each year. Forty to 60% of these patients report clinically significant pain. Discrepancy exists between availability of evidence-based medicine (EBM)-derived knowledge about management of perioperative pain and increased implementation of related practices versus lack of improvement in patient-reported outcomes (PROs). We aimed to assist health care providers to optimize perioperative pain management by developing and validating a medical registry that measures variability in care, identifies best pain management practices and assists clinicians in decision making. METHODS: PAIN OUT was established from 2009 to 2012 with funding from the European Commission. It now continues as a self-sustaining, not-for-profit project, targeting health care professionals caring for patients undergoing surgery. RESULTS: The growing registry includes data from 40 898 patients, 60 hospitals and 17 countries. Collaborators upload data (demographics, clinical, PROs) from patients undergoing surgery in their hospital/ward into an Internet-based portal. Two modules make use of the data: (1) online, immediate feedback and benchmarking compares PROs across sites while offline analysis permits in-depth analysis; and (2) the case-based clinical decision support system offers practice-based treatment recommendations for individual patients; it is available now as a prototype. The Electronic Knowledge Library provides succinct summaries on perioperative pain management, supporting knowledge transfer and application of EBM. CONCLUSION: PAIN OUT, a large, growing international registry, allows use of 'real-life' data related to management of perioperative pain. Ultimately, comparative analysis through audit, feedback and benchmarking will improve quality of care.

Patients' perception of postoperative pain management: validation of the International Pain Outcomes (IPO) questionnaire.

UNLABELLED: PAIN OUT is a European Commission-funded project aiming at improving postoperative pain management. It combines a registry that can be useful for quality improvement and research using treatment and patient-reported outcome measures. The core of the project is a patient questionnaire-the International Pain Outcomes questionnaire-that comprises key patient-level outcomes of postoperative pain management, including pain intensity, physical and emotional functional interference, side effects, and perceptions of care. Its psychometric quality after translation and adaptation to European patients is the subject of this validation study. The questionnaire was administered to 9,727 patients in 10 languages in 8 European countries and Israel. Construct validity was assessed using factor analysis. Discriminant validity assessment used Mann-Whitney U tests to detect mean group differences between 2 surgical disciplines. Internal consistency reliability was calculated as Cronbach's alpha. Factor analysis resulted in a 3-factor structure explaining 53.6% of variance. Cronbach's alpha at overall scale level was high (.86), and for the 3 subscales was low, moderate, or high (range, .53-.89). Significant mean group differences between general and orthopedic surgery patients confirmed discriminant validity. The psychometric quality of the International Pain Outcomes questionnaire can be regarded as satisfactory. PERSPECTIVE: The International Pain Outcomes questionnaire provides an instrument for postoperative pain assessment and improvement of quality of care, which demonstrated good psychometric quality when translated into a variety of languages in a large European and Israeli patient population. This measure provides the basis for the first comprehensive postoperative pain registry in Europe and other countries.