Papers of the Week

Acute pain is an expected consequence of a surgery, but it is far from being well controlled, due to its complex bio-psycho-social nature. One major complication of acute pain is its risk of persistency beyond healing. This so-called chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) is defined as new or increased pain due to surgery that lasts for at least 3 months after surgery. CPSP is frequent and constitutes an important socioeconomic challenge with significant impact on patients’ quality of life. Its importance has been recognized by its inclusion in the eleventh version of the ICD (International Classification of Diseases).