Prevention and Management of Chronic Postsurgical Pain and Persistent Opioid Use Following Solid Organ Transplantation: Experiences From the Toronto General Hospital Transitional Pain Service.

BACKGROUND: With >700 transplant surgeries performed each year, Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is currently one of the largest adult transplant centers in North America. There is a lack of literature regarding both the identification and management of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) after organ transplantation. Since 2014, the TGH Transitional Pain Service (TPS) has helped manage patients who developed CPSP after solid organ transplantation (SOT), including heart, lung, liver, and renal transplants. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we describe the association between opioid consumption, psychological characteristics of pain, and demographic characteristics of 140 SOT patients who participated in the multidisciplinary treatment at the TGH TPS, incorporating psychology and physiotherapy as key parts of our multimodal pain management regimen. RESULTS: Treatment by the multidisciplinary TPS team was associated with significant improvement in pain severity and a reduction in opioid consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Given the risk of CPSP after SOT, robust follow-up and management by a multidisciplinary team should be considered to prevent CPSP, help guide opioid weaning, and provide psychological support to these patients to improve their recovery trajectory and quality of life postoperatively.

Autobiographical memory predicts postsurgical pain up to 12 months after major surgery.

ABSTRACT: Recent cross-sectional studies have identified differences in autobiographical memory (AM) among individuals with chronic pain, but the temporal relationship between the 2 is unknown. Moreover, AM has yet to be studied in patients undergoing major surgery. This study addressed these gaps by conducting a prospective, longitudinal study of memory performance, postsurgical pain, and psychosocial factors in 97 adult participants scheduled for major surgery. Memories were evaluated using the Autobiographical Memory Test before and one month after surgery when participants were asked to recall personal events related to positive and pain-related word cues. Responses were coded for level of specificity, emotional valence, and surgery-related content. Questionnaires assessing presence/absence of pain and psychological functioning were administered before and at 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Generalized estimating equations modelled pain at each postsurgical time point with memory variables as predictors. As hypothesized, higher numbers of specific pain memories recalled before surgery predicted lower odds of pain across all time points (OR = 0.58, 95% CI [0.37-0.91]). Participants who took longer to recall pain memories before surgery (OR = 2.65, 95% CI [1.31-5.37]) and those who produced more surgery-related content at the one-month assessment (OR = 1.31, 95% CI [1.02-1.68]) had greater odds of reporting postsurgical pain up to 12 months later. These findings indicate that presurgical AM biases are risk factors for development and maintenance of postsurgical pain. To the extent that these biases are causal, presurgical interventions that modify the quality and content of patients' memories may prove to be promising strategies in the prevention of chronic postsurgical pain.

Sensitivity to Pain Traumatization Scale: development, validation, and preliminary findings.

BACKGROUND: This article reports three studies describing the development and validation of the 12-item Sensitivity to Pain Traumatization Scale (SPTS-12). SPT refers to the anxiety-related cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions to pain that resemble the features of a traumatic stress reaction. METHODS: In Study 1, a preliminary set of 79 items was administered to 116 participants. The data were analyzed by using combined nonparametric and parametric item response theory resulting in a 12-item scale with a one-factor structure and good preliminary psychometric properties. Studies 2 and 3 assessed the factor structure and psychometric properties of the SPTS-12 in a community sample of 823 participants (268 with chronic pain and 555 pain-free) and a clinical sample of 345 patients (126 with chronic post-surgical pain, 92 with other nonsurgical chronic pain, and 127 with no chronic pain) at least 6 months after undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery, respectively. RESULTS: The final SPTS-12 derived from Study 1 comprised 12 items that discriminated between individuals with different levels of SPT, with the overall scale showing good to very good reliability and validity. The results from Studies 2 and 3 revealed a one-factor structure for chronic pain and pain-free samples, excellent reliability and concurrent validity, and moderate convergent and discriminant validity. CONCLUSION: The results of the three studies provide preliminary evidence for the validity and reliability of the SPTS-12.

Sensitivity to pain traumatization: a higher-order factor underlying pain-related anxiety, pain catastrophizing and anxiety sensitivity among patients scheduled for major surgery.

BACKGROUND: The present article addresses two related developments in the psychology of pain, and integrates them into a coherent framework to better understand the relationship between pain and trauma. The first is an emerging conceptualization regarding the nature of the hierarchical organization of major pain-related anxiety constructs. The second is the theoretical rationale and empirical evidence linking pain and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. OBJECTIVES: To explore the underlying hierarchical factor structure of commonly used pain-related anxiety measures including the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS-20), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI); and to relate this structure to post-traumatic stress disorder in patients scheduled for major surgery. METHODS: Measures were completed by 444 patients scheduled to undergo major surgery. Exploratory factor analysis and subsequent higherorder analysis using the Schmid-Leiman transformation were conducted to investigate the underlying factor structure of the ASI, the PCS and the PASS-20. RESULTS: Twenty items from the ASI, the PASS-20 and the PCS loaded exclusively on one higher-order factor. The authors suggest the term 'sensitivity to pain traumatization' (SPT) for the underlying construct based in part on the strong, significant positive correlation between SPT scores and scores on the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist - Civilian Version. Finally, the total SPT score was significantly higher for patients with a history of pain than for those without a history of pain, both before surgery and one year after surgery. SPT describes the propensity to develop anxiety-related somatic, cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses to pain that resemble features of a traumatic stress reaction. Together, the results of the present study provide preliminary evidence for the construct validity of SPT.

The feelings club: randomized controlled evaluation of school-based CBT for anxious or depressive symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Children with anxious or depressive symptoms are at risk of developing internalizing disorders and their attendant morbidity. To prevent these outcomes, school-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been developed, but few studies include active control conditions. We evaluated a preventive CBT program targeting internalizing symptoms relative to an activity contrast condition post-intervention and at 1-year follow-up. METHODS: One thousand one hundred and thirty-nine children from Grades 3-6 from a diverse sample of schools, were screened with the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children and Children's Depression Inventory. Those with t>60 on either measure were offered participation in a randomized 12-week trial, school-based group CBT versus a structured after-school activity group of equal duration. We explored several therapeutic elements as potential predictors of change. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-eight children participated (84 boys, 64 girls; 78 CBT, 70 contrast; 57% Caucasian) and 145 completed the program. Self-reported anxious and depressive symptoms decreased significantly over time (η(2)=.15 and .133, respectively), with no group by time interaction. There was a trend toward fewer children meeting diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder on the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule at 1-year post-CBT than post-contrast (6/76 versus 12/69). Positive reinforcement of child behavior was associated with change in anxiety symptoms; checking homework was understood with change in depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that children with internalizing symptoms may benefit from both school-based CBT and structured activity programs. Replication, longer follow-up, and further studies of therapeutic elements in child CBT are indicated. ISRCTN Registry identifier: ISRCTN88858028, url: http://www.controlled-trials.com/.

Cognitive behavioural therapy for depressed youth: predictors of attendance in a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: Of the many forms of psychotherapy offered to treat depression in youth, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be efficacious. Nonetheless, a high degree of apparent non-responsiveness, failure to remit post-treatment, and lack of long term benefit are all problematic. Given that regular participation is critical to treatment success, child and family predictors of attendance were researched. METHOD: Twenty-nine depressed Canadian youth (aged 10-17) participated in a youth only or youth plus parent CBT group. Child and parent predictors of attendance were examined. RESULTS: Youth who were younger, less anxious (by maternal report), and had more formally educated parents attended CBT more consistently. Further, mothers who perceived their children's depressive symptoms as more severe, whose children reported more depressive and anxious symptoms, and who reported more life stressors attended more parent sessions. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies key factors influencing youth and parent attendance in group CBT for depressed youth. Addressing these factors at the outset of treatment may decrease attrition in this form of psychotherapy.

Structure of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in pain and pain-free patients scheduled for major surgery.

UNLABELLED: Factor-analytic studies of the structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have yielded inconsistent results. One of the reasons for the inconsistency may be that PTSD is highly comorbid with other disorders; the observed factor structure might depend on the particular comorbid disorder. One such disorder is chronic pain. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether PTSD symptom structure differs between pain and pain-free patients scheduled to undergo major surgery. Four hundred and forty-seven patients who were approached 7 to 10 days prior to scheduled surgery completed the PTSD Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C) Version and the Current Pain and Pain History Questionnaire; the latter was used to divide patients into pain (N = 175) and pain-free (N = 272) groups. Results showed that in pain-free patients, PTSD symptoms were best expressed as 2 symptom clusters (re-experiencing/avoidance; emotional numbing/hyperarousal) accounting for 52.4% of the variance. In pain patients, PTSD symptoms were best expressed as a single symptom cluster accounting for 51.1% of the variance. These results suggest different interrelationships among PTSD symptoms in these 2 populations. Results reflect the need for (1) controlling for pain in studies looking at PTSD-symptom expression and (2) further research on PTSD-symptom expression in pain populations. PERSPECTIVE: These results may have important implications for research on the comorbidity between PTSD and chronic pain, as well as for treatment of PTSD symptoms in patients presenting with pain problems.