| pediatrics

Study: Functional Disability in Children

Predicting Pediatric Chronic Pain Post Major Surgery

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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