Are preoperative experimental pain assessments correlated with clinical pain outcomes after surgery? A systematic review

Conclusions QST before surgery does not consistently predict pain after surgery. High quality studies investigating the presence of different QST variables in combination or along with other pain-related psychosocial factors are warranted to confirm the clinical relevance of QST prior to surgery. Implications Although preoperative QST does not show consistent results, future studies in this area should include assessment of central pain mechanisms like temporal summation of pressure pain, conditioned pain modulation, and responses to pain above the pain threshold since these variables show promising associations to pain after surgery.
Source: Scandinavian Journal of Pain - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research