HIGHLIGHTS
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There is a clear gap in medical training regarding the management of postoperative pain.
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Improved education and understanding of pain-related concepts among anesthesiology and surgery professionals is needed.
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There is an urgent need to re-evaluate the inclusion of pain content in the curricula of medical courses.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Chronic postoperative pain (CPP) can be defined as pain that continues for two or more months after surgery, after ruling out other causes. In Brazil, there is a lack of reliable data regarding the incidence of acute and chronic postoperative pain, as well as its impact on patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of anesthesiologists and surgeons regarding the management of CPP.
METHODS:
This cross-sectional observational study was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed to a non-probabilistic convenience sample of anesthesiologists and surgeons. The questionnaire, administered through Google Forms™, consisted of 22 questions covering sociodemographic information, self-assessment of knowledge, therapeutic management of postoperative pain, and the perceived need for further training. Chi-square test or Fisher’s Exact test was used to analyze the data.
RESULTS:
The main sociodemographic findings indicate a gender difference (p=0.03) among surgeons. Of 109 participants, most did not have expertise or specialization in pain management (p=0.02) and obtained knowledge about pain and analgesia only after undergraduate courses (p=0.013). Surgeons provided more incorrect answers about the definition of acute pain (p<0.001) and chronic pain (p=0.003) than anesthesiologists. Most participants claim to remember at least two risk factors for the development of chronic pain in surgical patients (p=0.001). Participants did not recommend the use of antidepressants (p=0.024) or antiepileptics (p=0.013) for the treatment of acute pain. Anesthesiologists considered strong opioids adequate to control acute pain (p<0.001). In relation to chronic pain, 70.7% of surgeons and 89.7% of anesthesiologists believed that antiepileptic drugs could be effective in managing this type of pain (p=0.018). Longer training time was related to less study of pain during undergraduate education (p=0.041).
CONCLUSION:
Surgeons and anesthesiologists showed substantial deficits in knowledge about postoperative pain. It is necessary to reassess the inclusion of the pain subject in medical curricula, and a more practical approach to the topic could greatly benefit future professionals working in this field.
Keywords
Anaesthesiologists; Knowledge; Pain; Postoperative; Surgeons