Effect of perioperative cognitive behavioral therapy on chronic post-surgical pain among breast cancer patients with high pain catastrophising characteristics: Protocol for a double-blinded randomised controlled trial.
Abstract BackgroundSurgery is regarded as the primary treatment for breast cancer. Chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) is a recognised complication after breast cancer surgery, and it is estimated to affect 20–30% of women. Pain catastrophizing has emerged as one of the most influential psychological variables associated with CPSP.MethodsThis trial will be a single-centre, prospective, double-blinded, noninferiority, randomised controlled trial (RCT). Patients scheduled for elective breast cancer surgery (wide local excision or mastectomy with or without axillary lymph node dissection) will be screened preoperatively for high pain catastrophising. Patients with high pain catastrophising, defined as a score of ≥ 24 on the Pain Catastrophising Scale will be deemed eligible for inclusion in the study. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either a cognitive behavioural therapy or an educational mindfulness based program during their perioperative period. The primary outcome is the Brief Pain Inventory short form average pain severity score at three months postoperatively. Secondary outcomes include patient-reported quality of recovery at Day 1–2 after surgery, levels of pain catastrophising, reported depressed mood and anxiety. ]DiscussionTo the best of our knowledge, this protocol describes the first RCT which directly examines the effect of perioperative cognitive behavioural therapy on CPSP among breast cancer patients with high pain catastrophising characteristics. The outcomes of this trial may have significant implications for these patients because perioperative cognitive behavioural therapy has the potential to become an important perioperative intervention to complement patient management.Trial registrationThis trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04924010 on 11th June 2021. All item from the World Health Organisation Trial Registration Data set have been included. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04924010