Correlation of Preoperative State Anxiety and Pain Six Weeks After Surgical Correction of Pectus Excavatum

BACKGROUND: Pain is a major concern in the early postoperative phase after correction of pectus excavatum. Most studies only focus on pain management in the first days after surgery and describe methods to alleviate the pain immediately postoperatively. The severity of postoperative pain may be influenced by anxiety. So far, few studies have looked into the relationship between anxiety and postoperative pain after pectus excavatum correction. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between preoperative anxiety and late postoperative pain scores. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study. Anxiety was assessed with the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire. Visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain scores assessed the pain at rest and activity. Anxiety was measured before surgery and pain scores six weeks after surgery. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the correlation between baseline anxiety and pain measurements six weeks after surgery. RESULTS: In this study, 136 patients were included. State anxiety was not associated with postoperative pain (mean of pain on activity and in rest), only with pain on activity after six weeks. Age and sex were not effect modifiers in any of the models. Relevant confounding factors, although not significant, consisted of trait, sex, minor complications, epidural duration, major complications, and the number of stabilizer plates. The explained variance of state anxiety on VAS for pain scores was minimum after 6 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative anxiety does not appear to influence postoperative pain after PE correction.