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Comparative Study
. 2017 May;25(5):667-675.
doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2016.12.013. Epub 2016 Dec 14.

The association of pre-operative body pain diagram scores with pain outcomes following total knee arthroplasty

A J Dave  1 , F Selzer  1 , E Losina  1 , I Usiskin  1 , J E Collins  1 , Y C Lee  1 , P Band  1 , D F Dalury  1 , R Iorio  1 , K Kindsfater  1 , J N Katz  2
Affiliations
Comparative Study

The association of pre-operative body pain diagram scores with pain outcomes following total knee arthroplasty

A J Dave et al. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2017 May.

Abstract

Objective: Approximately 20% of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) recipients have suboptimal pain relief. We evaluated the association between pre-surgical widespread body pain and incomplete pain relief following TKA.

Method: This prospective analysis included 241 patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) undergoing unilateral TKA who completed questionnaires preoperatively and up to 12 months post-operatively. Questionnaires included the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain scale and a body pain diagram. We derived the number of non-index painful body regions from the diagram. We used Poisson regression to determine the association between painful body regions identified preoperatively and both WOMAC pain at follow-up and improvement in pain as defined by the minimal clinically important difference (MCID).

Results: Mean subject age was 66 years (SD 9), and 61% were females. Adjusting for age, sex, co-morbid conditions, baseline pain, pain catastrophizing, and mental health, we found that more widespread body pain was associated with a higher likelihood of reporting 12-month WOMAC pain score >15 (relative risk [RR] per painful body region 1.39, 95% CI 1.18-1.63) and a greater likelihood of failing to achieve the MCID (RR 1.47, 95% CI 1.16-1.86).). Pain catastrophizing was an independent predictor of persistent pain and failure to improve by the MCID (RR 3.57, 95% CI 1.73-7.31).

Conclusions: Pre-operative widespread pain was associated with greater pain at 12-months and failure to reach the MCID. Widespread pain as captured by the pain diagram, along with the pain catastrophizing score, may help identify persons with suboptimal TKA outcome.

Keywords: Catastrophizing; Pain diagram; Total knee arthroplasty; Widespread pain.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests:

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 1a. WOMAC pain scores at baseline and at 12-months (Follow-up) by body pain region group Figure 1b. Change in WOMAC pain scores by body pain region group
Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 1a. WOMAC pain scores at baseline and at 12-months (Follow-up) by body pain region group Figure 1b. Change in WOMAC pain scores by body pain region group
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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