Predicting the pain continuum after adolescent idiopathic scoliosis surgery: A prospective cohort study

Background Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) affects half a million children annually in the United States, with dire socioeconomic consequences, including long‐term disability into adulthood. The few studies of CPSP in children are limited by sample size, follow‐up duration, non‐homogeneity of surgical procedure and factors evaluated. Methods In a prospective study of 144 adolescents undergoing a single major surgery (spine fusion), we evaluated demographic, perioperative, surgical and psychosocial factors as predictors of a continuum of postsurgical pain: immediate, pain maintenance at 2–3 months (chronic pain/CP) and persistence of pain a year (persistent pain/PP) after surgery. Results We found an incidence of 37.8% and 41.8% for CP and PP. CP and acute pain were both significant predictors for developing PP (p‐value