Association of preoperative pain catastrophizing with postoperative pain after lower limb trauma surgery.

Abstract Objectives To evaluate an association between preoperative Nepali pain catastrophizing scale (N-PCS) scores and postoperative pain intensity and total opioid consumption. Methods In this prospective cohort study we enrolled 135 patients with an American Society of Anaesthesiologists physical status I or II, aged between 18 and 65 years, and scheduled for surgery for lower-extremity fracture under spinal anaesthesia. Maximum postoperative pain reported during the 24 h was classified into two groups, no-mild pain group (Numeric rating scale [NRS] scores 1–3) and a moderate-severe pain group (NRS 4–10). The Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to compare the association between the baseline N-PCS scores and outcome variables, i.e., the maximum NRS pain score and the total tramadol consumption within the first 24 h after surgery. Logistic regression models were used to identify the predictors for the intensity of postoperative pain. Results As four patients violated the protocol, the data of 131 patients were analyzed. Mean N-PCS scores reported by the moderate-severe pain group was 27.39 ± 9.50 compared to 18.64 ± 10 mean N-PCS scores by the no-mild pain group (p  Conclusion Patients who reported higher pain catastrophizing preoperatively were at increased risk of experiencing moderate-severe postoperative pain. Clinical trial registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT03758560 .