Objective: This study aimed to characterize self-reported postoperative pain after tympanoplasty and tympanomastoidectomy and correlate pain severity with the patient's preoperative anxiety state.
Study design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Tertiary referral medical center.
Patients: Adult patients undergoing any middle ear surgery between July 2018 and July 2019.
Main outcome measures: Patient responses to an otology questionnaire (OQ) for scoring pain intensity on a visual analog scale preoperatively and on postoperative days (PODs) 1-4, 21, and 63. The responses were correlated with anxiety state (assessed by State-Trait Personality Inventory [STPI] scores) and clinical and operative data, including surgical technique-related details.
Results: Sixty patients were enrolled (mean age ± standard deviation, 40 ± 19.7 yr, 26 men). Their median preoperative (baseline) visual analog scale pain score was 6 on POD1, 5 on POD3, and 1 at 3 and 7 weeks. Their median preoperative OQ score was 32 of 70 (45.7%), 37 of 70 (52.8%) on POD1, 33 of 70 (47.1%) on POD3, 6 of 70 (8.5%) at 3 weeks, and 6 of 70 at 7 weeks. Their overall mean preoperative anxiety level (STPI score) was 2.63 ± 1.50. STPI scores were significantly higher among patients who reported OQ scores equal to or higher than the median during PODs 1 to 4 in comparison to patients who reported OQ scores lower than the median. The α Cronbach correlation between anxiety and postoperative pain scores on POD1 was 0.97.
Conclusion: Preoperative anxiety levels are closely associated with postoperative pain levels after any middle ear surgery. Measures to control preoperative anxiety are warranted to alleviate postoperative pain.
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