The Effects of Pre-Operative Pain Education on Pain Severity in Cardiac Surgery Patients: A randomized controlled study

Introduction

Cardiac surgery patients often falsely expect severe post-operative pain, and thus underreport their levels of pain, in addition to avoiding pain medication use due to misconceptions of its addictive potential. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of individually tailored pre-operative education on the reduction of postoperative pain severity, decreasing the number of pain bursts, and increasing the proper use of pain medication in patients receiving the intervention compared to controls.

Methods

In this prospective randomized control study we included 200 patients who underwent a cardiac surgery. The experimental group (n=100) received an informational booklet and discussed their ideas surrounding pain and pain medication with the researcher. Patients led the discussion. The control group (n=100) received no intervention. Postoperative pain severity was measured by a Numerical Rating System (NRS) and was divided into mild (NRS 1-3), moderate (NRS 4-6), and severe (NRS 7-10).

Results

Among the cohort, 68.8% of patients were male, and the average age was 60.48±10.7. Average postoperative 48 hour cumulative pain scores were lower in those who received the intervention compared to controls (48.8163±17.52427 vs 61.6868±19.83845, p=0.001). Patients who received the intervention had less frequent pain bursts when compared to controls (3.8265±2.18724 vs 5.8990±2.86248, p=0.001), but there was no significant difference in the amount of pain medication taken by the control or intervention groups (7.6633±3.01181 vs 7.5758±3.16902, p<0.001).

Conclusion

Patients who receive individualized preoperative pain education are more likely to have decreased postoperative pain and should be considered in every patient prior to cardiac surgery