Background: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is an orphan disease occurring as a complication after trauma. Due to its acute onset and the typical clinical presentation of the inflammatory and autonomous signs, it is an eyecatching chronic pain disease affecting also young and working people. In social media and the internet, high pain severity and the unfavourable prognosis are often empathized.Methods: Here, we compared epidemiological, pain and lifestyle factors of 223 CPRS patients from the "ncRNAPain" cohort with 255 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (MSK). MSK patients were recruited at the beginning of a multimodal pain therapy programme. We searched for factors predicting pain intensity.Results: Both chronic pain diseases affected women in middle age. Patients with MSK were more obese, drank more alcohol, and were less educated (Pearson chisquare Test or Mann-Whitney/U-Test). Both groups smoked more than healthy people in the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).Mann-Whitney/U-Test confirmed that CRPS patients did not have more severe pain and did not suffer more from pain-related disability than patients with MSK.CRPS patients also had less psychiatric comorbidities. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that group assignment, depressive characteristics, body mass index, average alcohol consumption and smoking predicted higher pain ratings, while disease duration, anxiety symptoms or gender had no influence on pain intensity. Conclusion:In summary, our study supports a more optimistic view on pain in CRPS patients in comparison to MSK and identifies lifestyle factors that might contribute to the pathophysiology like smoking and drinking. Important next steps are the identification of CRPS patients at risk for chronification or-vice versa-with protective factors for pain resolution.

Background Chronic postoperative inguinal pain (CPIP) is a common complication after inguinal hernia surgery and occurs in up to 10–14% of cases. CPIP has a significant impact on daily life, work ability and thus compromises quality of life. The aim of this retrospective study was an in-depth analysis of patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair to further refine the prediction of the onset of CPIP reliably. Methods A single center retrospective analysis of patients with who underwent open or minimally invasive inguinal hernia repair from 2016 to 2021 was carried out. Complication rates, detailed analysis of postoperative pain medication and quality of life using the EuraHS Quality of Life questionnaire were assessed. Results Out of 596 consecutive procedures, 344 patients were included in detailed analyses. While patient cohorts were different in terms of age and co-morbidities, and the prevalence of CPIP was 12.2% without differences between the surgical procedures (Lichtenstein: 12.8%; TEP 10.9%; TAPP 13.5%). Postoperative pain was evaluated using a newly developed analgesic score. Patients who developed CPIP later had a significant higher consumption of analgesics at discharge (p = 0.016). As additional risk factors for CPIP younger patient age and postoperative complications were identified. Conclusion The prospective use of the analgesic score established here could be helpful to identify patients that are at risk to develop CPIP. These patients could benefit from a structured follow-up to allow early therapeutic intervention to prevent chronification and restore the quality of life.