Breaking the Pain Barrier: Unravelling the Prevalence and Predictors of Acute Postoperative Pain

Abstract

Background: Major treatment challenges arise from Acute postoperative pain (APP), which can result in pain that lasts for a longer time and delays patient’s recovery. In Pakistan, many people who undergo surgery often do not receive proper pain relief during the postoperative period.

Objective: To discover the prevalence and predictors of acute postoperative pain following surgery among patients in a tertiary care hospital in Mirpur, AJ&K.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Divisional Headquarters Hospital Mirpur. A total of 225 adult surgical patients were included using consecutive sampling technique. The patient’s pain severity was measured using the NRS within 24 to 48 hours following the surgery. The interviews and chart reviews were used to gather information about the patients’ demographics, the surgical procedures done, the type of anesthesia used and the analgesia approach applied. In order to find what factors are linked to severe pain after surgery (NRS ≥7), multivariate logistic regression was applied.

Results: 72.9% of patients had moderate to severe levels of APP on the NRS. Pain that was graded as severe affected 34.2% of the patients. Severe pain tended to occur more often in females (OR = 1.92, p = 0.041) in patients with comorbidities (OR = 2.14, p = 0.011), those who underwent surgery on the abdomen (OR = 2.67, p = 0.007), those who used general anesthesia (OR = 1.81, p = 0.042) and especially among patients who did not use a combination of analgesic strategies (OR = 1.81, p = 0.042). The average NRS score was lower when using more than one type of pain relief method.

Conclusion: Pain after surgery is still very common in Pakistan. Patients with female gender, additional diseases, surgery of the abdomen and undergoing general anesthesia are most likely to have severe postoperative pain. The use of various pain treatment methods and standard pain assessment tools are necessary for improving how a patient feels.