[Psychological aspects of acute postoperative pain.].
Acute postoperative pain has an important psychological component. This psychological element could be registered by observing or measuring interindividual differences in pain experience, expressions of pain, and pain-coping behavior. Emotions such as anxiety, anger, and helplessness accompany postoperative pain, and postoperative pain can also be elicited by very intense preoperative anxiety. This emotionally triggered pain exists independent of the sensory pain component elicited by the surgical injury and must be treated differently. Psychological factors also influence pain reduction. Postoperative aggression and its underlying metabolism facilitates recovery if the physicians or nurses can cope with the anger of the patient. Providing sensory descriptions of the pain during the preoperative visit and careful attention to both the pain-experiencing and the pain-free patient help to reduce pain or prevent its escalation.
Höfling
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Institut für Psychologie/Klinische Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Leopoldstraße 13, D-8000, München 40.