Chronic Pain Following Thoracic Surgery

Pain that persists after the healing of a surgical wound has previously been described as an important, but often unrecognized clinical problem. Persistent postsurgical (chronic postoperative pain) is the consequence of either ongoing inflammation or more common neuropathic pain as a result of surgical damage to peripheral nerves.

Previous studies have shown that chronic pain is a frequent and serious complication following thoracic surgery. However, the prevalence of chronic pain following both thoracoscopy and anterior thoracotomy in patients with pulmonary malignancies is poorly characterized and the impact of this pain on patients' lives remains unclear. Thus, this study aims to investigate the prevalence of chronic pain following thoracoscopy or anterior thoracotomy, and the severity and impact of persistent post-surgical pain on daily life.

This study is working with several hypotheses: 1.) persistent postsurgical pain following lung cancer surgery is predominantly of neuropathic nature and the presence of neuropathic symptoms increases the severity of postsurgical pain and reduces the patient's quality of life, 2.) the prevalence of chronic pain is reduced over time, and 3.) less invasive thoracic surgical interventions reduces the risk of the development of chronic pain.