Often chronic pain after ICU stays?

Many hospital patients develop chronic pain after intensive care

Hospitalization with intensive care is associated with an increased risk of chronic pain - regardless of the cause of hospitalization. In a recent study, researchers from Jena University Hospital (UKJ) have shown that around one third of all survivors report significant pain for up to one year after hospital discharge.

In their study, the scientists at the University Hospital Jena have identified risk factors associated with chronic pain after ICU treatment. It turned out that it plays only a minor role, with which result the patients were admitted to the hospital. Other factors, such as pre-existing pain or severe pain immediately after intensive care, have a much more far-reaching effect here.

How are surviving patients after treatment?

The research team headed by psychologist Philipp Baumbach and pain therapist Winfried Meissner from the UKJ has investigated the incidence and risk factors of chronic pain in more than 200 patients after intensive care and compared them with healthy volunteers. Because, thanks to modern intensive care medicine, more and more patients are surviving severe illnesses and injuries, but the question remains open as to how they feel months or years later.

One third of patients with chronic pain

The researchers found that of the survivors, one in three complained of significant pain up to one year after discharge. As a result, the affected persons are sometimes considerably impaired in their "everyday activities, work ability and quality of life", according to the UKJ. Contrary to what was originally thought, in the development of chronic pain, it did not matter if the patients suffered from sepsis (blood poisoning) or not during their intensive stay.

Risk factors identified

In their investigations, however, the researchers were able to identify risk factors that had a significant influence on the risk of chronic pain. For example, according to the UKJ, "the inflammatory value of CRP is associated with an increased risk of chronic pain after intensive care." The current study also identifies "pre-existing pain, lower age, but especially severe pain immediately after intensive care" as additional risk factors been.

New approaches to prevention

"These results are particularly interesting because they are similar to our findings in surgical pain," reports study author Winfried Meissner. Thus, it is already known that the administration of certain drugs during and immediately after the operation of the chronification of pain can be counteracted. "If this knowledge is transferable, new approaches for the prevention of chronic ailments will open up for intensive care patients," explains Meissner.

Abnormalities in stimulus processing

The researchers also analyzed the abnormalities of stimulus processing in patients in another part of the project. They found that around half of the patients had a pronounced malfunction of thin nerve fibers. These patients, compared to those without the changes, are affected by an increased pain impairment and concomitant lower quality of life. "Early screening for these changes could lead to vulnerable patients being recognized and treated in good time," says psychologist Philipp Baumbach. (Fp)