Postoperative fatigue after day surgery: prevalence and risk factors. A prospective observational study

Postoperative fatigue (POF) is a major cause of rehabilitation failure after surgery. POF is a complication that could negatively affect outpatients but to date no study has specifically investigated POF at home after day surgery. The objective of this study was to assess early and late POF and risk factors for POF after day surgery.

This prospective single center observational study was conducted from October 2015 to January 2016. All patients scheduled for day surgery under general or regional anesthesia were assessed for eligibility. The primary endpoint was the prevalence of early POF (Day 1), defined by a VAS measurement of fatigue greater than three (on a scale of 0 to 10). Secondary endpoints were the prevalence of late POF (Day 7), the prevalence of severe POF (VAS> 6) at D1 and D7 and risk factors for preoperative fatigue, and for early and late POF.

Among 348 patients, the prevalence of early and late POF was 37% (95% CI: 32-42) and 16% (95% CI: 12.1-19.9), respectively. The prevalence of severe POF was 9% at D1 and 3% at D7. The main risk factor for early POF was postoperative pain (P<0.01).

This work suggests that early and late POF are common after day surgery but that severe POF is rare. Postoperative pain is the main risk factors for the early POF. The optimized management of postoperative pain could probably decrease the prevalence of POF after day surgery.