title: Catastrophizing: a predictive factor for postoperative pain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  postsurgical pain is a major cause of delayed recovery and discharge after surgery. A significant proportion of patients develop chronic postsurgical pain, which affects their quality of life. Cognitive and psychological factors are reported to play a significant role in the severity of reported postsurgical pain. High levels of catastrophizing are associated with a heightened pain experience and appear to contribute to the development of chronic pain. This article describes the concept of pain catastrophizing, its association with postsurgical pain, and its potential role in the management of postsurgical pain and postsurgical quality of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  data for this review were identified from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO. Reference lists of selected articles were cross-searched for additional literature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High catastrophizing levels were found to be associated with increased pain severity, increased incidence of development of chronic pain, and poorer quality of life after surgery. There was no consensus on the relation between catastrophizing and analgesia consumption.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  identifying and reducing catastrophizing levels can help to optimize pain management in surgical patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, St Mary's Hospital Campus, 10th Floor QEQM Building, London W2 1NY, UK.
authors.forename: Reenam S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blakeway
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Skapinakis
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nihoyannopoulos
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Macleod
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sevdalis
authors.forename: Hutan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ashrafian
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Platt
authors.forename: Ara
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Darzi
authors.forename: Thanos
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Athanasiou
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D058443:Catastrophization / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors