- Anniversary/History
- Membership
- Publications
- Resources
- Education
- Events
- Outreach
- Careers
- About
- For Pain Patients and Professionals
Persistent postsurgical pain (PPSP) is a common, and often disabling postoperative morbidity, but many questions remain about factors associated with PPSP. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identify preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative factors associated with PPSP after gynecological surgeries, namely hysterectomy and cesarean section (C-section), and urological surgeries, namely prostatectomy and donor nephrectomy. Overall, 18 gynecological surgery studies, 4 prostatectomy studies, and 2 donor nephrectomy studies met the review criteria providing data that could be meta-analyzed. Average (±SD) PPSP occurrence after gynecological surgery was 20±11%; factors associated with increased risk of PPSP included smoking, preoperative abdominal or pelvic pain, preoperative pain elsewhere in the body, longer duration of surgery, more intense acute postoperative pain, and surgical wound infection. The use of neuraxial anesthesia was associated with decreased PPSP risk. Average PPSP occurrence was 20±9% after prostatectomy and 15±2% after donor nephrectomy. For urological procedures, the existing data did not allow for identification of significant factors associated with PPSP, except for laparoscopic and hand assisted laparoscopic approaches that were associated with lower incidence of PPSP for donor nephrectomy, and the use of neuraxial anesthesia which was associated with lower incidence of PPSP after prostatectomy. PPSP after gynecological and urological surgeries is common. This systematic review identified important factors associated with C-section and hysterectomy that can help identify women who are at high risk of PPSP. More high-quality studies with consistent methodology are needed to understand the factors associated with PPSP risk, particularly for surgeries such as prostatectomy and nephrectomy.