Researchers suggest catastrophizing, the act of thinking of events as a catastrophe, is a strong predictor of whether an individual's acute pain after surgery or an injury will evolve into chronic pain, according to a news report by MedPage Today.
Sean Mackey, MD, chief of the pain management division at Stanford University, adds fear, depression and anxiety may also act as major predictors of the change from acute pain to chronic pain after an injury or surgery. Much of the correlation may have to do with activity in an area of the brain called the lateral orbital frontal cortex, which assesses and inhibits a response based on incoming information.
"What is unclear is whether that pain ends up causing these people to have these fundamental changes in the prefrontal cortex, or are people set up and individually predisposed? We're trying to figure that out right now," Dr. Mackey said in the report.
Current medical literature suggests several medications, including gabapentin and ketamine, could help lower postoperative pain.
Read the news report about chronic pain.
Read other coverage about pain management:
- Study: IV Regional Blocks with Ketorolac and Lidocaine Offer Only Temporary Pain Relief
- Percutaneous Decompression Procedure Shows Promise for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Patients
- Numbing Heat Patch May Also Relieve Pain
Sean Mackey, MD, chief of the pain management division at Stanford University, adds fear, depression and anxiety may also act as major predictors of the change from acute pain to chronic pain after an injury or surgery. Much of the correlation may have to do with activity in an area of the brain called the lateral orbital frontal cortex, which assesses and inhibits a response based on incoming information.
"What is unclear is whether that pain ends up causing these people to have these fundamental changes in the prefrontal cortex, or are people set up and individually predisposed? We're trying to figure that out right now," Dr. Mackey said in the report.
Current medical literature suggests several medications, including gabapentin and ketamine, could help lower postoperative pain.
Read the news report about chronic pain.
Read other coverage about pain management:
- Study: IV Regional Blocks with Ketorolac and Lidocaine Offer Only Temporary Pain Relief
- Percutaneous Decompression Procedure Shows Promise for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Patients
- Numbing Heat Patch May Also Relieve Pain