Chronic pain after thoracic surgery: a follow-up study

Background: The incidence of long-term post-thoracotomy pain is reported to be up to 67%. A relationship between the severity of acute postoperative p ain and the development of chronic post-thoracotomy pain has been suggested . Methods: Patients scheduled for elective thoracotomy were interviewed befor e and one week after surgery to find out if they had pain before surgery an d how much pain they experienced postoperatively. The amount of analgesics the patients were given were registered during the first 5 postoperative da ys. The patients were interviewed by letter 3, 6 and 12 months after surger y to find out if they still had pain due to surgery and to what extent this pain interfered with their daily activities. Results: One hundred and ten patients entered the study. Information about the complete study period was obtained from 67 patients. The incidence of c hronic post-thoracotomy pain was 80% at 3 months, 75% at 6 months and 61% o ne year after surgery. The incidence of severe pain was 3-5%. Chronic post thoracotomy pain interfered with the patient's normal daily Life in more th an half of the patients. High consumption of analgesics during the first po stoperative week was associated with a higher risk of chronic post-thoracot omy pain. Conclusion: A significant proportion of patients undergoing thoracotomies w ill suffer from chronic pain. Surgeons and anaesthetists should be aware of this fact and they should look for effective means of preventing and treat ing this pain syndrome.