Nursing assessment of post-operative pain in patients undergoing general (thoracic) surgery

Introduction: Postoperative pain is an unpleasant experience for patients after thoracic surgery. It is known that these types of surgical procedures cause high intensity of pain. Proper nursing assessment of the patients’ pain is critical as for the right decision to be made in terms of offering quality care and support. Aim: The aim of this study was the evaluation of postoperative pain experienced by patients following thoracic surgery and the correlation with demographic characteristics as well as other factors. Methodology: The McGill questionnaire (long form) was used and statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 21. The sample included (n=30) patients that had thoracic surgery. The study took place in a thoracic surgical department of a hospital in Athens, Greece. Results: Patients mean age was 59 years, 73% had higher education qualifications, 66.7% were male and 33.3% were female. In addition, 40% were from islands, 40% urban and 20% suburban areas of Greece. The majority of the sample (70%) were smokers, while 43% were diagnosed with lung cancer. The vast majority of the sample 93.3% had a close chest drain in situ postoperatively, while thoracotomy was performed on 56.66% of the participants. Pain at the incision site was reported by 43.3%, while 90% of the sample reported absence of external pain and 70% felt relieved with the use of medication. The vast majority of the sample (90%) had undergone surgery with general anesthesia and reported less pain than patients who had local analgesia. Interestingly, the progression of the intensity and type of pain experienced by the patient depends on the recovery days after surgery (a reduction was observed the 5th and 6th day), as it illustrated a gradual decrease up to the day the patient was discharged. Conclusion: This study is original in the international literature. There is no recognized tool to measure postoperative pain experienced by patients who have had thoracic surgery. Based on the results of this study we emphasize the necessity for the design and implementation of an appropriate postoperative assessment questionnaire for these patients.