Child and Parent Emotion-related Risk and Resilience Factors Associated With the Transition From Acute to Chronic Pain After Surgery: A Prospective Longitudinal Study

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are conducting a study to understand chronic postsurgical pain in children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 years. This pain develops or worsens after surgery and affects about 20% of young patients after major operations, impacting their quality of life. The study focuses on how emotional factors like emotion variability, regulation, and differentiation may influence the risk of developing this long-term pain, which has not been studied before in this context. This observational study involves five assessments: one before surgery and four follow-ups after surgery. These assessments track changes in pain and emotional factors over time to identify those that increase or decrease the risk of chronic postsurgical pain. The study takes place in participating children's hospitals where planned orthopedic surgeries requiring inpatient care occur. Participants will be evaluated through repeated measurements over a year, including pain levels at 3 and 12 months, emotional changes, and physical activity at 3 months. The researchers will monitor pain trajectories and emotional patterns to better understand how these factors relate to chronic pain development. The total participation involves scheduled assessments before and after surgery to gather detailed data on these outcomes.

Longitudinal Study of Chronic Postsurgical Pain in Children and Adolescents