The Association Between Preoperative Pain Catastrophizing and Chronic Pain After Hysterectomy – Secondary Analysis of a Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Hon Sen Tan,1 Rehena Sultana,2 Nian-Lin Reena Han,3 Chin Wen Tan,1,4 Alex Tiong Heng Sia,1,4 Ban Leong Sng1,4 1Department of Women’s Anaesthesia, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore; 2Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; 3Division of Clinical Support Services, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore; 4Anesthesiology and Perioperative Sciences Academic Clinical Program, SingHealth-Duke-NUS Medical School, SingaporeCorrespondence: Ban Leong SngDepartment of Women’s Anaesthesia, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road 229899, SingaporeTel [phone]Email [email protected]: Hysterectomy is associated with a high incidence of chronic post-hysterectomy pain (CPHP). Pain catastrophizing, a negative cognitive-affective response to pain, is associated with various pain disorders but its role in CPHP is unclear. We aimed to determine the association of high preoperative pain catastrophizing with CPHP development and functional impairment 4 months after surgery.Patients and Methods: Secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study of women undergoing abdominal/laparoscopic hysterectomy to investigate the association between high pain catastrophizing (pain catastrophizing scale, PCS≥ 20) with CPHP and associated functional impairment (defined as impairment with standing for ≥ 30 minutes, sitting for ≥ 30 minutes, or walking up or down stairs). CPHP and functional impairment were assessed via 4- and 6-month phone surveys.Results: Of 216 patients, 72 (33.3%) had high PCS, with mean (SD) of 30.0 (7.9). In contrast, 144 (66.7%) patients had low PCS, with mean (SD) of 9.0 (4.7). At 4 months, 26/63 (41.3%) patients in the high PCS group developed CPHP, compared to 24/109 (22.0%) in the low PCS group. At 6 months, 14/53 (26.4%) high PCS patients developed CPHP, compared to 10/97 (10.3%) patients with low PCS. High PCS was independently associated with CPHP at 4 months (OR 2.49 [95% CI 1.27 to 4.89], p=0.0082) and 6 months (OR 3.12 [95% CI 1.28 to 7.64], p=0.0126) but was not associated with functional impairment. High PCS≥ 20, presence of evoked mechanical temporal summation (MTS), and history of abdominal/pelvic surgery predict CPHP at 4 months with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.69. Similarly, PCS≥ 20 and increasing MTS magnitude predicted CPHP at 6 months with AUC of 0.76.Conclusion: High PCS was independently associated with CPHP. Future studies should identify other CPHP associated factors to formulate a risk-prediction model and investigate the effectiveness of early intervention for pain catastrophizers in improving pain-related outcomes.Keywords: pain catastrophizing scale, mechanical temporal summation

Keywords

• pain catastrophizing scale
• mechanical temporal summation