Chronic Pain After Lung Resection: Risk Factors, Neuropathic Pain, and Quality of Life

Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) can occur frequently after thoracic surgery. This retrospective study aimed to determine CPSP prevalence, risk factors, neuropathic pain (NP) occurrence, and its impact on quality of life. About 200 patients who underwent lung resection via minithoracotomy or thoracoscopy between January 2017 and December 2017 were assessed 4–12 months postoperatively via phone interview for chronic pain by a 0–10 Numeric Rating Scale, for NP using the Douleur Neuropathique 4 test, and for quality of life using a Short Form-36 (SF-36) Health Survey (Italian version). CPSP incidence was 35% (n = 70 of 200; 95% CI 41–28) of which 31.5% (n = 22 of 70; 95% CI 41–21) was with NP. Only 10% of patients with CPSP reported severe chronic pain. According to univariate analysis, CPSP was associated to moderate and severe acute postoperative pain (P