Age Linked to Post-Surgery Pain in Elective Lung Cancer Cases

Shichao Wang and the team aimed to investigate the link between age and postoperative pain after lung cancer surgery, focusing on how post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) pain influences this relationship.

This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a single medical center and included patients aged 18 or older who underwent radical lung cancer resection between 2018 and 2020. The primary measurement was the incidence of moderate-to-severe pain within the first 24 hours postoperatively.

The analysis included 3,764 patients, revealing a 28.3% incidence of moderate-to-severe pain within 24 hours post-surgery. Age significantly influenced the prediction model for postoperative pain. Patients younger than 58.5 years, both in the general population and those without moderate-to-severe pain in the PACU, were more likely to experience such pain. In those with moderate-to-severe pain in the PACU, the age threshold increased to 62.5 years.

The study concluded that age was linked to postoperative 24-hour moderate-to-severe pain after elective lung cancer surgery, with PACU pain influencing this relationship. Patients under 58.5 years old were more likely to experience postoperative pain, while those with PACU pain had an increased age threshold of 62.5 years.

This work was supported by the Henan Provincial Medical Science and Technology Research Project (SBGJ202302016) and the Henan Province Middle-aged and Young Health Science and Technology Innovation Outstanding Youth Talent Training Project (YXKC2021025).

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39153773/

Wang S, Zhu H, Yuan Q, et al. (2024). “Effect of age on postoperative 24-hour moderate-to-severe pain after radical resection of lung cancer-specific pain in the post-anaesthesia care unit: a single-centre retrospective cohort study.” BMJ Open. 2024;14(8):e085702. Published 2024 Aug 17. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085702