Pain after Interventional Radiology in Oncology: A Case-Control Study from a 5-Year Cohort.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Interventional Radiology
• Pain Management

Background:

• Interventional radiology is crucial for cancer treatment, yet post-procedural pain is underreported.
• Understanding pain factors is vital for improving patient care in oncology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify postoperative pain following interventional radiology procedures in cancer patients.
• To identify key pre- and intraoperative factors associated with this pain.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of 4411 interventional radiology procedures (2015-2019).
• Standardized anesthetic protocols based on procedure type.
• Case-control study comparing severe pain patients with pain-free controls.

Main Results:

• Severe pain in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) was more frequent in women and younger patients, and after general anesthesia.
• Procedures like arterial embolization and longer intervention times (>160 min) correlated with higher pain.
• High-dose remifentanil was a risk factor; intraoperative ketoprofen reduced severe pain incidence.

Conclusions:

• Post-interventional radiology pain severity is influenced by procedure type/duration, anesthesia, and prior opiate use.
• Optimizing remifentanil dosage and using intraoperative analgesics like ketoprofen may mitigate severe post-procedural pain.