The value of preoperative puncture pain assessment in predicting pain levels after total hip arthroplasty

Abstract

Background Total hip arthroplasty (THA) has provided reliable benefits for patients with end-stage degenerative osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip, specifically relief of hip pain, functional recovery, and overall quality of life improvement.Postoperative pain after THA is a frequently reported adverse effect, and prevention of postoperative pain after arthroplasty is particularly important in the treatment program. Methods We performed visual analogue scale (VAS) scores by preoperative puncture stimulation, relied on the scores for grouping, compared the changes in VAS scores in the resting and exercise states after surgery. Ninety-eight patients who were admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from November 2023 to March 2024 for primary THA in our hospital were selected. The patients were grouped based on the pain of puncture during preoperative blood collection, and the VAS scores at rest and exercise were recorded at 1d, 2d, and 3d postoperatively. P < 0.05 indicates statistical significance. Results Postoperative VAS scores differed between patients with different preoperative VAS scores. Patients with low preoperative VAS scores had low postoperative VAS scores. Postoperative resting pain VAS scores at 1d, 2d, and 3d were increased in patients with preoperative scores of 3 and 4 compared with the cohort of patients with score of 1, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The dynamic pain VAS scores of subgroup 5 were higher than those of subgroup 1 and subgroup 2 at 1d, 2d postoperatively, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05), but the difference was not significant and not statistically significant at 3d. Conclusions Patients with low preoperative VAS scores will also have low postoperative VAS scores, and preoperative assessment of patients' VAS scores can predict postoperative VAS scores to some extent.