• Christopher L Wu, Andrew J Rowlingson, Alan W Partin, Murray A Kalish, Genevieve E Courpas, Patrick C Walsh, and Lee A Fleisher.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. chwu@jhmi.edu
• Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2005 Nov 1; 30 (6): 516-22.

Background And ObjectivesIt is unclear whether the severity of postoperative pain may affect patients' quality of recovery in the immediate postoperative period (within 2 weeks of surgery).MethodsThis was a prospective, observational study in patients undergoing elective radical retropubic prostatectomy. All patients received a standardized intraoperative general or spinal anesthetic followed by intravenous patient-controlled analgesia. Visual analog scores for pain at rest, pain with activity, and nausea along with the QoR, an instrument validated to assess quality of recovery in the postoperative period, and Brief Fatigue Inventory were assessed on postoperative days 1 to 3, 7, and 30. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale was assessed on postoperative days 7 and 30.ResultsWe found that the severity of pain both at rest and with activity correlated with a decrease in quality of recovery as assessed by the QoR.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that an increase in postoperative pain is correlated with a decrease in a patient's quality of recovery in the immediate postoperative period.

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