Is This Going to Hurt, Doc? Predicting Pain with Corticosteroid Injections for Upper Extremity Conditions

Corticosteroid injections (CSIs) are used in a wide variety of upper extremity pathologies for both diagnostic and treatment purposes. Many patients ask about pain associated with the procedure before agreeing to proceed. The purpose of this study was to correlate perceived pain tolerance and resilience with patient-reported injection pain during and immediately after injection.

One-hundred patients indicated for a CSI for an upper extremity condition were recruited for the study. Patients completed a Brief Resilience Scale, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System pain interference form, and assessment of pain tolerance before injection. Physicians predicted pain tolerance and resilience for each patient. Immediately after the procedure, patients completed a second survey, assessing pain during and 1 minute after injection.

Physician-predicted patient resilience and pain tolerance was lower than that self-reported by patients. Pain with injection was inversely correlated with physician-predicted pain tolerance and resilience but not with patient-reported pain tolerance. Injection pain ratings did not correspond with patients' willingness to undergo subsequent injections.

Procedural pain is an important consideration for many patients, especially in awake procedures. Appropriate counseling is crucial to support informed consent and enhance patient outcomes. This study demonstrated that a physician's clinical experience can be used to predict a patient's pain with CSI and should be considered when counseling patients.