Patient selection: surgical patient
Outcome: postoperative pain >= 7 on a numerical rating scale (NRS) from 0 to 10
Predictors:
(1) female sex
(2) country of the recruiting center (with median worst pain intensity >= 7)
(3) age < 54 years
(4) location of preoperative chronic pain
(5) duration of surgery > 90 minutes
(6) preoperative opioid use
(7) feeling anxious due to NRS pain > 4
(8) feeling helpless due to NRS pain > 4
The presence of >= 3 of these predictors was associated with severe postoperative pain.
Parameters for simple score:
(1) sex
(2) persistent preoperative NRS pain > 3
(3) opioids taken prior to admission
(4) age of the patient in years
|
Parameter
|
Finding
|
Points
|
|
sex
|
male
|
0
|
|
|
female
|
1
|
|
persistent preop pain
|
no
|
0
|
|
|
yes
|
1
|
|
preadmission opioids
|
no
|
0
|
|
|
yes
|
1
|
|
age
|
< 30 years
|
2
|
|
|
30 to 49
|
1
|
|
|
50 to 70
|
0
|
|
|
> 70
|
-1
|
total score =
= SUM(points for all 4 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: -1
• maximum score: 5
• The higher the score the greater the risk of severe postoperative pain.
