Chronic Pain and Neuroimmune Possible Predictive Factors: Review

Abstract

Secondary post-traumatic and post-operative pain is a problem that is increasingly encountered by medical professionals in Ukraine today in the conditions of war. Chronic pain is an independent nosological unit, which is a severe complication of many performed surgical procedures. Сhronic pain as a result of surgical interventions occurs up to 10% of patients. It develops significantly often after amputations (50–85%), thoracotomies (5–65%), cardiosurgical interventions (30–55%), and chest surgeries (20–50%). Long-term post-operative pain is one of the primary, mostly unrecognized clinical problems. It can be assumed that patients whose wounds do not heal in time have a predisposition to the development of secondary chronic pain. The long healing process of the wound surface is directly related to the following features: the wound microbiota, the resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics, the group of antibacterial agents chosen for treatment and the duration of exposure to the drug. Understanding the interaction between microorganisms and the sensory systems of neurons can reveal more information for the putative pain mechanisms study. In recent years, much attention has been paid to studying the concept of pain sensitization. Inflammation and nerve damage contribute to increased pain signaling, stimulating wound hyperalgesia. These processes can directly affect the formation of long-term post-operative pain. Among the key problematic factors that contribute to the appearance of remote peripheral neuropathy, the duration of administration, increased dosage, and possible combinations of antimicrobial drugs should be highlighted, as well as the persistence and exacerbating of manifestations of local inflammation with the participation of resistant opportunistic bacteria that colonize the lesion and can directly produce metabolites vital activities, pathogenicity factors with pro-inflammatory properties. This allows us to assume a significant role of persistence in the primary lesion of antibiotic-resistant opportunistic bacteria, as well as antibiotic therapy as a delayed iatrogenic factor, as predictors of the formation of chronic pain syndrome in the wounded.