The application of preoperative self-anticipating pain scores in predicting surgical pain after elective surgery
Abstract Background Current principles of postoperative pain management are primarily based on the types and extent of surgical intervention. This clinical study measured patient’s self-anticipating pain score before operation, and correlated the scores with the actual pain levels and analgesic requirement after operation. Methods This prospective cross-sectional, observational study recruited consecutive patients who received elective surgery in the E-Da Hospital, Taiwan from June to August 2018. Patients were invited to complete a structured questionnaire during preoperative anesthesia assessment that surveyed patient’s self-anticipating pain level (numeric rating scale, NRS 0-10) for the scheduled procedure. The actual pain score (visual analogue scale, VAS) experienced by the patient and the total equivalent dose of opioids administered after operation were recorded. Results A total of 996 patients were recruited and 1 patients were excluded due to incomplete data. Most of the patients (86%) received general anesthesia and 73.9% of them had prior operation history. Patients with younger ages (<40 years) and those took regular benzodiazepine for sleep disorder anticipated significantly higher pain levels. Male patients anticipated significantly lower NRS than females (odd ratio 1.710; 95% CI 1.254-2.331). Patients who scheduled for laparotomy, orthopedic surgery or long procedures had higher anticipating NRS. Although higher anticipating NRS were associated with higher postoperative VAS scores and higher total equivalent opioid dose for acute pain management, these surgical patients actually experienced less VAS than they anticipated at the post-anesthesia care unit. Conclusion This observational study found that female, younger age (<40 years), regular benzodiazepine user and patients who scheduled for long procedure (>2 h), laparotomy or orthopedic surgery are anticipating significantly higher surgical-related pain. Therefore, appropriate preoperative counseling for analgesic control and elimination of unnecessary anticipating pain levels in these patients would be necessary to improve the quality of anesthesia service and patient’s satisfaction.