Association between postsurgical pain and heart rate variability: protocol for a scoping review

摘要

Surgical interventions can elicit neuroendocrine responses and sympathovagal imbalance, ultimately affecting cardiac autonomic function. Cardiac complications account for 30% of postoperative complications and are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality following non-cardiac surgery. One cardiovascular parameter, heart rate variability (HRV), has been found to be predictive of postoperative morbidity and mortality. HRV is defined as variation in time intervals between heartbeats and is affected by cardiac autonomic balance. Furthermore, altered HRV has been shown to predict cardiovascular events in non-surgical settings. In multiple studies, experimentally induced pain in healthy humans leads to reduced HRV suggesting a causal relationship. In a different studies, chronic pain has been associated with altered HRV, however, in the setting of clinical pain conditions, it remains unclear how much HRV impairment is due to pain itself versus autonomic changes related to analgesia. We aim to review the available evidence describing the association between postsurgical pain and HRV alterations in the early postoperative period.