Chronic post-surgical pain

Abstract

Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) has lately become a neglected phenomenon. However, in recent years, investigations of the possible risk factors (type of surgery, preoperative pain, acute postoperative pain, and psychological and genetic factors) have also gained as much importance as the clinical problem. CPSP is not only observed following major surgery, but also following minor surgical procedures, such as hernia and vasectomy. Definitive data regarding the incidence of CPSP have not been obtained yet, since it is difficult to develop standard methods to resolve this difficult and complicated clinical picture. Many different medications, such as gabapentin, ketamine, venlafaxine, lidocaine, tramadol, and steroids have been tested in addition to multimodal analgesic techniques for the management of CPSP. Hence, preventive analgesia is a broader application of preemptive analgesia that includes any preoperative analgesic regimen able to control the sensitivity induced by pain.