Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Oct;25(5):584-8.
doi: 10.1097/ACO.0b013e32835743b7.

Chronic postsurgical pain

Arnaud Steyaert  1 , Marc De Kock
Affiliations
Review

Chronic postsurgical pain

Arnaud Steyaert et al. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2012 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is the consequence of acute postoperative pain. Unfortunately, despite many attempts of improvement, the treatment of acute postoperative pain remains unsatisfactory. In the present review, the probable reasons for this will be reviewed.

Recent findings: Based on the demonstration of specific, patients-related 'pain risk', individual pain trajectories and the importance of secondary hyperalgesia in the development of CPSP, new methods have to be applied in order to determine the real efficacy of new analgesic adjuvants. The key importance of the early inflammatory reaction in the genesis of the 'postoperative syndrome' and its close interaction with the mechanisms elicited by intraoperative opioid administration must also be outlined.

Summary: A single treatment approach is almost unlikely to solve the problem of CPSP. Consequently, the management of postoperative pain has to become more patients' specific and etiologies sensitive.

PubMed Disclaimer