Observational studyPloS one2025
Does the quality of pain relief after major surgery influence the risk of postoperative complications? A prospective observational study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Virtual reality for opioid reduction in postoperative cardiac and thoracic surgery: A randomized controlled trial protocol.MethodsX · 2026Article
- Pain management strategies following thoracic surgery: best practices and innovations.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- [Postoperative pain and sex/gender-current findings of the past decade].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Article
- Prognostic Factors for Postoperative Complications. An Aggregate Protocol for 10 Observational Studies From the Danish TRIPLE-A Cohort of 1.2 Million Surgeries.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Association Between Early Postoperative Pain Burden and 30-Day Health-Related Quality of Life After Lumbar Spinal Fusion: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesEffective postoperative acute pain management continues to be a challenge. It remains uncertain whether poorly controlled postoperative pain influences the risk of postoperative complications. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether indicators of poor pain control increase the likelihood of cardiac, pulmonary, infectious, thromboembolic, and surgical complications, as well as of prolonged use of analgesics.
methodsThis prospective observational study combines treatment data from the German net-ra registry and claims data from the second-largest public health insurer BARMER (Mar 1, 2021-Mar 31, 2022). A total of 539 adult inpatients who had undergone major surgery and received planned postoperative care from acute pain services were analyzed. Adjusted binary logistic regression models were fitted to compare patients with inadequately (NRS > 3) and adequately controlled pain, with (NRS > 6) and without pain peaks, and with slow or rapid pain recovery (median split of the time to sustained adequate pain control NRS ≤ 3) with regard to the risk of postoperative complications and prolonged use of analgesics as a proxy of chronic postoperative pain.
resultsPatients with inadequately controlled pain within the first three postoperative days had more than twice the risk of complications (adjOR 2.56; 95% CI 1.43-4.80, p = 0.002), as did patients with slow pain recovery (adjOR 2.21; 95% CI 1.35-3.64, p = 0.002). No significant effect could be observed for pain peaks (adjOR 1.27; 95% CI 0.64 to 2.42, P = 0.478). Inadequate pain control did not significantly affect prolonged use of analgesics (adjOR 1.87; 95% CI 0.98-3.72, p = 0.064), nor did pain peaks or recovery speed show any influence. DISCUSSION: We observed a clear link between postoperative quality of pain control and complications, along with a trend towards prolonged use of analgesics. Therefore, postoperative acute pain should be regularly assessed and minimized until resolved. Further research into patient- and procedure-specific factors is essential to reduce adverse pain-related outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.