Women with preexisting pain and higher baseline pain catastrophizing scores are at greater risk for experiencing more severe acute pain and requiring additional opioid medication after cesarean delivery, a study has concluded.
“Studies show that severe pain on postpartum day 1 can increase the risk of depression and persistent pain as much as threefold,” said lead author Jingui He, BS, a researcher in the Department of Anesthesia at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston.