Study: Functional Disability in Children

Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is seen in up to half of post major surgeries in children. But why? Factors may include gender, genetics, and parent catastrophizing. A newly published Journal of Pain Research article reviewed the incidence of CPSP in 265 children ages 8 to 17 years. The children were examined 6 months and 1 year after major surgery to uncover possible preoperative factors that might have determined pain trajectories postsurgery. Questionnaires administered to patients and their parents measured fear/anxiety, physical sensations accompanying the anticipation or experience of pain, and more. The conclusion of the study: “Pre-surgical functional disability is the only factor that predicts both 12-month functional disability and the course of pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings over the 12-month period.

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