Postoperative pain following foot and ankle surgery: a prospective study.
Foot Ankle Int
; 29(11): 1063-8, 2008 Nov.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-19026197
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Orthopaedic procedures have been reported to have the highest incidence of pain compared to other types of operations. There are limited studies in the literature that investigate postoperative pain. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
A prospective study of 98 patients undergoing orthopedic foot and ankle operations was undertaken to evaluate their pain experience. A Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) was administered preoperatively and postoperatively.RESULTS:
The results showed that patients who experienced pain before the operation anticipated feeling higher pain intensity immediately postoperatively. Patients, on average, experienced higher pain intensity 3 days after the operation than anticipated. The postoperative pain intensity at 3 days was the most severe, while postoperative pain intensity at 6 weeks was the least severe. Age, gender and preoperative diagnosis (acute versus chronic) did not have a significant effect on the severity of pain that patients experienced. Six weeks following the operation, the majority of patients felt no pain. In addition, the severity of preoperative pain was highly predictive of their anticipated postoperative pain and 6-week postoperative pain, and both preoperative pain and anticipated pain predict higher immediate postoperative pain.CONCLUSION:
The intensity of patients' preoperative pain was predictive of the anticipated postoperative pain. Patients' preoperative pain and anticipated postoperative pain were independently predictive of the 3-day postoperative pain. The higher pain intensity a patient experienced preoperatively suggested that their postoperative pain severity would be greater. Therefore, surgeons should be aware of these findings when treating postoperative pain after orthopaedic foot and ankle operations.
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pain, Postoperative
/
Orthopedic Procedures
/
Foot
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Year:
2008
Type:
Article