Examining the prevalence of persistent postsurgical pain in pediatric spinal fusion surgery patients: a biopsychosocial approach

Objective: Despite extensive literature on chronic pain in surgical and nonsurgical adult patient populations and in the pediatric nonsurgical patient population, the acute to chronic postsurgical pain transition in children has been a largely neglected area of research. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of persistent postsurgical pain in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who undergo spinal fusion surgery and to explore baseline differences between patients in varying longitudinal pain trajectories. Methods: The Scoliosis Research Society Questionnaire-30, which includes pain, selfimage, mental health, and activity subscales, was administered to 219 patients at a large Northeast children’s hospital preoperatively and at oneand two-years postoperatively through their involvement in the Prospective Pediatric Scoliosis Study. A subset of these patients (n=77) also completed follow-up data at five-years post-surgery. Pain among this sample (in the past six months, in the past month, and at rest) was examined at each