Post Surgical Pain
Pain may unfortunately persist after an operation even in the hands of the most experienced surgeons. Chronic post surgical pain occurs when pain persists for more than 2 months following surgery, or when pain persists after tissue healing is expected to have occurred.
Some factors that increase the risk of developing chronic post surgical pain include:
- Genetic predisposition
- Female gender
- Psychological vulnerabilities (depression, anxiety, catastrophizing)
- Surgical approach with more direct nerve damage
- Type of surgery (ie. amputation)
- Increased duration of surgical time
- Re-operation
- Radiotherapy or chemotherapy after surgery
- Moderate to severe pain after surgery
Chronic pain may persist after any type of surgery. Management is via addressing the biopsychosocial issues via a multidisciplinary and multimodal approach. Some common presentations we see and possible interventions for pain relief include:
- Cervical spine surgery - cervical facet joint injection, cervical facet joint rhizotomy, cervical epidural injection
- Lumbar spine surgery - lumbar facet joint injection, lumbar facet joint rhizotomy, caudally-directed epidural steroid injection
- Hernia repair - ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block, nerve root sleeve injection, pulsed radiofrequency ablation to dorsal root ganglion
- Knee surgery - genicular nerve block and rhizotomy, synvisc injection
- Shoulder surgery - suprascapular nerve block and rhizotomy, steroid injections to bursa
- Chest wall surgery - intercostal nerve block and rhizotomy
Helpful Resources:
- Musculoskeletal Australia: Managing your pain
- The Pain Toolkit
DisclaimerThe above information is for general education only and is not intended as a substitute for your own independant health advice. At Western Pain clinic we comprehensively assess each patients pain condition and provide advice using the latest evidence-based treatments. If you would like to find out more information about post surgical pain, please discuss this with our doctor during your consultation.