Post-Mastectomy and Phantom Breast Pain: Risk Factors, Natural History, and Impact on Quality of Life

摘要

Post-mastectomy pain syndrome, post-lumpectomy pain, and phantom breast pain are poorly understood chronic pain syndromes that occur following surgical procedures for breast cancer. The primary aims of this research were to identify risk factors for these chronic pain syndromes following surgical procedures for breast cancer, characterize their natural history, and examine their irnpact on quality of life using a prospective research design. Women scheduled for mastectomy, lumpectomy, or excisional biopsy were assessed with respect to hypothesized risk factors for chronic pain and were then studied prospectively for one year. Peri%dic follow- - up assessments of pain, health- related disability and quality of life, and selected psychosocial variables allow risk factors to be identified and the impact of chronic pain on quality of life to be determined. An irn%%ortant feature of this research was its detailed assessment of pre-operative, early post-operative, and chronic pain. In these assessments, sensory and affective aspects of pain, pain quality, and non- painfill abnormal sensations are examined. By identifying risk factors for chronic pain following surgical procedures for breast cancer, the results of this research can be used to design interventions aimed at preventing the development of these chronic pain syndromes.