Incidence and risk factors for development of persistent postsurgical pain following total knee arthroplasty: A retrospective cohort study

Persistent postsurgical pain (PPP) is defined as the discomfort that lasts >3 months postoperatively. The primary aim of this retrospective study was to estimate the risk of developing moderate-to-severe PPP after primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The secondary goal was to explore potential predictors of this outcome. Data were collected via hospital arthroplasty registry and chart review. The risk of moderate-to-severe PPP, defined as ≥4 on the numerical rating scale (NRS) at minimum of 3 months post-surgery, was calculated. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the association of patient demographics, diagnoses, length of hospital stay, and preoperative NRS with the odds of developing PPP. Exploratory, simple logistic regression was used to estimate the association of perioperative factors with the odds of developing PPP on a subset of patients (n = 72). The risk of PPP after TKA was 31.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 27.5–35.0) (n = 578). Every 2-point increase in baseline NRS was associated with 1.66 (95% CI: 1.37–2.03) times the odds of developing PPP (P < .001). African-Americans (vs whites) had 1.82 (95% CI: 1.03–3.22) times the odds of developing PPP (P = .040). Exploratory analysis suggested that the adductor canal saphenous nerve (vs femoral nerve) blocks were associated with 2.87 (95% CI: 1.00–8.26) times the odds of developing PPP (P = .049). This study estimated a high risk (31.3%) of moderate-to-severe PPP after primary TKA. This study suggested that higher preoperative pain scores might be associated with greater odds of developing PPP. Moreover, this study suggested the possibility that racial differences and types of peripheral nerve blocks might be associated with greater odds of developing moderate-to-severe PPP after TKA surgery. However, the evidence obtained from our exploratory analysis of limited data certainly requires further exploration in large-scale studies.