ReviewJournal of pain research2026
Predisposing Factors for Chronic Post-Surgical Pain After Thoracic Surgery: A Scoping Review with Quantitative Synthesis.
Review in Journal of pain research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Pain management strategies following thoracic surgery: best practices and innovations.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- Chronic pain after thoracic surgery: mechanisms, risk factors, and limitations of current preventive strategies-a narrative review.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- Post-Operative Outcomes and Different Pain Trajectories Between Uniportal Thoracoscopic, Multiport Robot-Assisted and Uniportal Robot-Assisted Major Lung Resection.The international journal of medical robotics + computer assisted surgery : MRCAS · 2026Article
- Pain Management Strategies for Chronic Pain after Thoracic Surgery: From Pharmacological Therapy to Regenerative Approaches.Annals of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery : official journal of the Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Asia · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) is a frequent complication after thoracic and cardiothoracic surgery; however, reported risk factors remain heterogeneous and inconsistent. Objective: To map and synthesize the factors associated with CPSP after thoracic and cardiac surgery and to determine the strength of evidence supporting each predictor category. Methods: An exploratory review was conducted following PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, identifying 20 eligible studies. A complementary qualitative synthesis was undertaken: statistically significant p-values (p < 0.05) were extracted, and predictors were categorized by evidence strength (strong, moderate, limited/inconsistent). Results: Severe acute postoperative pain during the first postoperative days emerged as the strongest and most reproducible predictor of CPSP across designs and populations. Psychological distress, particularly anxiety, depression, and catastrophizing, also showed strong and consistent associations. Moderate evidence supported the influence of young age, female sex, low BMI, and pre-existing chronic pain. Surgical determinants such as operative duration, minimally invasive approaches, tissue trauma, and postoperative complications showed variable associations, as did anesthetic factors, especially high intraoperative remifentanil doses. Evidence for single-dose S-ketamine and regional blocks was limited or inconsistent. Preliminary findings related to inflammatory cytokines, microRNA phenotypes, and geriatric prediction models suggest additional biological contributors but remain exploratory. Conclusion: CPSP after thoracic and cardiothoracic surgery results from interacting nociceptive, psychological, procedural, and biological factors. Although heterogeneity across studies requires cautious interpretation, this synthesis highlights early postoperative pain control and psychological vulnerability screening as priority strategies in perioperative care, and underscores the need for standardized, prospective, biomarker-informed research.
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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.