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. 2022 Mar 2;22(1):76.
doi: 10.1186/s12893-022-01522-1.

Incidence and risk factors for chronic postsurgical pain following video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: a retrospective study

Yingying Zhang #  1 , Rong Zhou #  1 , Bailing Hou  1 , Suhong Tang  1 , Jing Hao  1 , Xiaoping Gu  1 , Zhengliang Ma  2 , Juan Zhang  3
Affiliations

Incidence and risk factors for chronic postsurgical pain following video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: a retrospective study

Yingying Zhang et al. BMC Surg. .

Abstract

Background: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has been widely used as an alternative for thoracotomy, but the reported incidence of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) following VATS varied widely. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors for CPSP after VATS.

Methods: We retrospectively collected preoperative demographic, anesthesiology, and surgical factors in a cohort of patients undergoing VATS between January 2018 and October 2020. Patients were interviewed via phone survey for pain intensity, and related medical treatment 3 months after VATS. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to explore independent risk factors associated with CPSP.

Results: 2348 patients were included in our study. The incidence of CPSP after VATS were 43.99% (n = 1033 of 2348). Within those suffering CPSP, 14.71% (n = 152 of 1033) patients reported moderate or severe chronic pain. Only 15.23% (n = 23 of 152) patients with moderate to severe chronic pain sought active analgesic therapies. Age < 65 years (OR 1.278, 95% CI 1.057-1.546, P = 0.011), female (OR 1.597, 95% CI 1.344-1.898, P < 0.001), education level less than junior school (OR 1.295, 95% CI 1.090-1.538, P = 0.003), preoperative pain (OR 2.564, 95% CI 1.696-3.877, P < 0.001), consumption of rescue analgesia postoperative (OR 1.248, 95% CI 1.047-1.486, P = 0.013), consumption of sedative hypnotic postoperative (OR 2.035, 95% CI 1.159-3.574, P = 0.013), and history of postoperative wound infection (OR 5.949, 95% CI 3.153-11.223, P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for CPSP development.

Conclusions: CPSP remains a challenge in clinic because half of patients may develop CPSP after VATS. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2100045765), 2021/04/24.

Keywords: Chronic postsurgical pain; Multivariate logistic regression; Predictors; Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram for patient inclusion
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Multivariate model for CPSP after VATS
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The area under the ROC curve of CPSP multivariate model
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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