Factors contributing to pain following surgery are poorly understood with previous research largely focused on adults. With approximately 6 million children undergoing surgery each year8, there is a need to study pediatric persistent postsurgical pain. The present study includes patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis undergoing spinal fusion surgery enrolled in a prospective, multi-centered registry examining post-surgical outcomes. The Scoliosis Research Society Questionnaire- Version 30, which includes pain, activity, mental health, and self-image subscales, was administered to 190 patients prior to surgery and at 1 and 2 years post-surgery. A subset (n=77) completed 5-year post-surgery data. Pain prevalence at each time point and longitudinal trajectories of pain outcomes derived from SAS PROC TRAJ were examined using ANOVAs and post-hoc pairwise analyses across groups. Thirty-five percent of patients reported pain in the moderate-severe range prior to surgery. One year postoperative, 11% reported pain in this range while 15% reported pain at two years post-surgery. At five years post-surgery, 15% of patients reported pain in the moderate to severe range. Among the five empirically-derived pain trajectories, there were significant differences on self-image, mental health, and age. Identifying predictors of poor long-term outcomes in children with postsurgical pain may prevent the development of chronic pain into adulthood.

The purpose of this study was to assess outcomes in patients who have undergone celiac plexus neurolysis (CPN) as treatment for refractory abdominal visceral pain at a tertiary care medical center. This study involved retrospective analysis of all patients who had undergone computed tomography (CT)-guided CPN over a 7-year period, as identified in the medical record. Cases were categorized into 1 of 3 groups-group 1: patients getting at least moderate improvement in pain but with improvements subsiding within 2 days; group 2: patients with some sustained pain relief but still requiring heavy doses of narcotics; group 3: patients with major or complete sustained reduction in pain where the narcotic dose was able to be reduced. One hundred thirty-eight cases were identified, 51 of which had no or insufficient follow-up, leaving 87 cases for analysis. Of the 87 cases, 31 (36%) were categorized as group 1, 21 (24%) as group 2, and 35 (40%) as group 3. There were no statistical differences in outcomes based on patient age, gender, time since diagnosis, or type of cancer. Documented postoperative complications were diarrhea (11 cases) and 1 case each of obtundation, hypotension, and presyncopal event. We conclude that patients undergoing CT-guided CPN for abdominal visceral pain achieve moderate or major short-term pain relief in a majority of cases. The procedure is safe with minimal complications.

No abstract

No abstract