Predicting, Preventing and Managing Persistent Pain After Breast Cancer Surgery: The Importance of Psychosocial Factors

SUMMARY 

Persistent pain after breast cancer surgery (PPBCS) is increasingly recognized as a potential problem facing a sizeable subset of the millions of women who undergo surgery as part of their treatment of breast cancer. Importantly, an increasing number of studies suggest that individual variation in psychosocial factors such as catastrophizing, anxiety, depression, somatization and sleep quality play an important role in shaping an individual’s risk of developing PPBCS. This review presents evidence for the importance of these factors and puts them within the context of other surgical, medical, psychophysical and demographic factors, which may also influence PPBCS risk, as well as discusses potential perioperative therapies to prevent PPBCS.

KEYWORDS:

• anxiety
• breast cancer pain
• catastrophizing
• chronic post surgical pain
• depression
• post mastectomy pain
• psychosocial

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.