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Type of anesthesia, location of surgery affect postop pain levels, study finds
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Ophthalmic surgery performed under general anesthesia can leave patients with more serious postoperative pain than the same surgery performed under local anesthesia, a study found.
A group of German researchers designed a study to assess the incidence and severity of postoperative pain following elective ophthalmic surgery and to identify key factors independently associated with the development of pain. In 500 patients enrolled prospectively, the researchers assessed numerical analog pain scales and analgesic requirements.
They found that operations could be classified into those “causing more pain” or “causing less pain” based on the anatomic location of the surgery. Patients undergoing surgery in the posterior segment, or undergoing corneal or muscle surgery exhibited the highest postoperative pain scores.
Anterior segment surgery generally caused little pain, but when performed under general anesthesia it resulted in significantly more pain than under regional anesthetic.
The study authors could find no other factors independently associated with an increased risk of developing serious postop pain, they reported in the European Journal of Anaesthesiology.