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Is There Anything That Will Increase My Risk Of Developing Pain After Surgery?

Dr. Joshua Prager answers the question: 'What Increases Post-Surgery Pain Risk?'

ByABC News
November 14, 2008, 1:26 PM

— -- Question: Is There Anything That Will Increase My Risk Of Developing Pain After Surgery?

Answer: You have the greatest risk of increasing your pain after surgery if your pain is not managed both during the surgery and after the surgery. A new concept called pre-emptive analgesia means that if you block the spinal cord from processing the pain information, the likelihood of developing chronic pain afterwards is significantly reduced. The important concept here is that you should suffer as little as possible from your pain from a surgery, and that if you block that pain, you're less likely to develop a chronic pain problem.

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