Assessment of Acute and Chronic Pain after Open Technique Septorhinoplasty: Should We Really Be Concerned about This Topic?

Objective: Postoperative pain control is an important contributor to patient satisfaction and wellness. Although surgeons and patients mostly refer to the pain that occurs in the early postoperative period, information about pain in the long-term has often been neglected. This study aimed to examine the duration of pain after septorhinoplasty, the mechanism underlying the influences of pain on patients in returning to daily life and the incidence of chronic pain.

Material and Methods: Our study included 77 patients aged between 18 and 57 years who underwent septorhinoplasty. Visual analog scale (VAS; 0: no pain, 10: most intense) was used for the subjective assessment of preoperative concern about pain after surgery and pain severity during pain control throughout the 6-month postoperative period. In addition, a survey was conducted to gather information about the duration and character of pain as well as the time taken to return to daily activities.

Results: The mean preoperative VAS score for pain concern was 6.05 (SD: 3.32). The mean VAS score was 3.4±2.8 and 0.7±1.5 on the 1st and 10th postoperative days, respectively. The mean VAS score at the sixth month was 0.05±0.3. Seventy-four (96%) patients stated no pain at all at the sixth month, whereas 3 (4%) patients reported pain. The average time taken to resume daily activities was 13.1±8.3 days. We could not find a significant correlation between pain intensity and the time taken to resume daily activities.

Conclusion: On an average, it was found that pain disappeared at the end of 1st month and that daily activities were resumed in the second week. Chronic pain was detected in 4% of our patients.

Cite this article as: Aydemir L, Çelik M, Şen C, Çayönü M, Çomoğlu Ş. Assessment of Acute and Chronic Pain after Open Technique Septorhinoplasty: Should We Really Be Concerned about This Topic?. Eur J Rhinol Allergy 2020; 3(3): 55-8.