The effect of pain on health-related quality of life in the immediate postoperative period.
The hypothesis of this study was to determine if the severity of postoperative pain would affect patients' health-related quality of life (HRQL) in the immediate postoperative period (within 2 wk of surgery). We designed this study as a prospective, nonrandomized observational trial in a tertiary academic care center. Patients undergoing elective total hip or knee replacement surgery were eligible. Patients received a standardized intraoperative general or epidural anesthetic followed by IV patient-controlled analgesia or patient-controlled epidural analgesia. Short Form (SF)-12, visual analog scores for pain at rest and pain with activity, nausea, and itching were assessed on postoperative days 1-5, 7, and 14. The severity of pain correlated with a decrease in both the physical and mental component of the SF-12. The severity of nausea correlated with a decrease in the mental but not physical component of the SF-12. The severity of itching did not correlate with a change in the SF-12. Our findings suggest that an increase in postoperative pain will decrease a patient's quality of life in the immediate postoperative period; however, several methodologic issues exist when assessing HRQL in the immediate postoperative period.


CONCLUSIONS
Severity of postoperative pain may affect quality of life.
D000368:Aged; D016058:Analgesia, Patient-Controlled; D000767:Anesthesia, Epidural; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000523:psychology; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D020250:Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting / Q000523:psychology; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011537:Pruritus / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires