Risk of chronic post-surgical pain using the GENDOLCAT preoperative risk prediction model: Implementation in a...

Chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) affects 17% of patients undergoing surgery, and identifying those at risk is essential. In this analysis, we used the GENDOLCAT scale to evaluate the risk of CPSP (rCPSP) in patients scheduled for surgery and characterise those with rDCPQ ≥ 30%.

We included patients scheduled for surgery in whom the rCPSP was calculated during the preoperative assessment using the GENDOLCAT scale, which includes the following variables: age, type of surgery, preoperative pain at the surgical site, preoperative pain in other areas of the body, and the physical and mental dimensions of the SF-12.

We calculated the rCPSP of 589 patients who were divided into 4 groups according to the aggressiveness of their surgery. Four risk groups were defined: ≤10%; >10%-20%; >20%-30%; and ≥30%; the latter being high risk. A total of 22.8% (n = 134) had an rDCPQ ≥ 30%; the mean age was 48.9 ± 12.9; preoperative pain at the surgical site was 4.8 ± 3.5 (VNS) and 5.3 ± 2.9 (VNS) beyond the surgical site; the SF-12 physical and mental dimension scores were 34.7 ± 10.6 and 41.6 ± 12.4, respectively. Of this group, 34% (n = 46) underwent minimally aggressive procedures.

A high proportion of patients scheduled for surgery have a high risk of DCPQ, although many undergo minimally aggressive procedures. This shows the importance of using a systematic method to determine the risk of DCPQ in all surgical patients.