Pain-sensitive temperament and postoperative pain

Charmaine Kleiber, University of Iowa
M. Suwanraj
L. A. Dolan
Mary Berg, University of Iowa
A. Kleese

Abstract

PURPOSE: To describe the relationship between pain-sensitive temperament and self-report of pain intensity following surgery. DESIGN AND METHODS: Fifty-nine adolescents and young adults (average age 14 years) undergoing spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis completed the Sensitivity Temperament Inventory for Pain-Child version (STIP-C). The Pearson correlation between STIP-C scores and the highest pain intensity for each of the first three postoperative days was investigated. RESULTS: There was a small but significant correlation between the Perceptual Sensitivity and Symptom Reporting subscales of the STIP-C and pain intensity measured on the third postoperative day. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Aspects of the pain-sensitive temperament may be important in understanding the variability in postoperative pain. This is the first investigation of the relationship between pain-sensitive temperament and surgical pain. More research is needed in this area.