Incidence of post-thoracotomy chronic pain and its impact on quality of life
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2013
Yazarlar: Cemil YeşIldaǧ, Elvan Erhan, M. Nuri DenIz, Ufuk Çaǧrici, Alpaslan ÇAKAN, Kutsal TURHAN, Mehmet Ibrahim Yegül
Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences, SCI Expanded İndekslerine Giren Dergi, Uluslararası, 2013, cilt 33, ss 1395-1401
DOI: 10.5336/medsci.2013-34425
Özet
Objective: Chronic pain is common after thoracotomy. The goal of this study was to investigate the incidence of chronic post-thoracotomy pain and its impact on quality of life. Material and Methods: Two hundred and thirty three patients who had undergone a classic postero-lateral thoracotomy in our institution between January 2007 and October 2009 were evaluated. Patients who had more than one operation or died during follow up were excluded. All patients were contacted by telephone and were questioned about the presence of post-thoracotomy pain. Patients who had post-thoracotomy pain were invited for face to face interview with a Pain Questionnaire Form. Results: Seventy four patients were excluded from the study. One hundred twelve out of 159 patients were contacted by telephone. The incidence of chronic post-thoracotomy pain was 56%. Pain Questionnaire revealed that 69.4% of the patients had mild, 26.5% had moderate and 4.1% had severe chronic pain. Thirty-nine percent of the patients with pain needed analgesia, 24% felt their pain was their worst medical problem and 24% reported that it limited their daily activities. The prevalence of each neuropathic symptom was between 4% and 61%. Conclusion: Our study confirms that chronic post-thoracotomy pain is a common problem. About 30.6% of patients have moderate to severe chronic post-thoracotomy pain affecting their quality of life. © 2013 by Türkiye Klinikleri.