Clinicians are not sure why some women continue to experience pelvic
pain even after noncancer-related hysterectomies. About 1,160 women
in Denmark completed a questionnaire to identify risk factors for chronic
postsurgical pain after hysterectomy. Thirty-two percent of these women
reported having chronic pain a year after hysterectomy, and 14% had
pain more than 2 days a week. Before surgery, 15% of the women did not
have pain.
Women at increased risk for chronic pain were those who had pelvic
pain before the surgery, previous cesarean delivery, pain as the main
indication for surgery, or pain problems in other areas of the body.
Vaginal hysterectomy (compared to total abdominal hysterectomy) did
not significantly lower the risk of chronic pain. Importantly, spinal
anesthesia (versus general anesthesia) was associated with a lower frequency
of chronic pain after surgery. Brandsborg B, Nikolajsen L, Hansen CT,
Kehlet H, Jensen TS. Adapted from Anesthesiology. 2007 May;106(5):1003-1012.
PMID: 17457133
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed
Credit: PubMed, developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information
(NCBI) at the National
Library of Medicine (NLM).
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