The prevalence and impact of pain after day-care tubal ligation surgery

Empirical data from controlled studies using standardized, reliable measures on the amount and quality of pain after laparoscopic tubal ligation and the consequences of this pain on the activities of daily living are extremely scarce. In a study of 54 women admitted to a day-care unit for this procedure, validated measures were utilized to assess the incidence, intensity and duration of pain after tubal ligation (McGill Pain Questionnaire) and the impact of pain on the activities of daily living (Modified Functional Assessment Inventory). Psychological measures (Brief Symptom Inventory, Kranz Health Opinion Survey, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) were employed to test their use as possible predictors for pain, analgesic usage and the time taken to resume a normal activity level after tubal ligation surgery. The results showed that pain is a significant problem after tubal ligation although pain rating scores over the 7-day study period were lower than those reported after major abdominal surgery. Eighty-five percent of our sample reported that pain and/or fatigue impacted on their recovery and contributed to an average delay of return to normal activity level of 4.4 days, not including the day of surgery. The psychological measures did not prove to be strong predictors of postoperative pain, time of return to normal activity level or analgesic usage. The most powerful predictor of return to normal activity was the total amount of pain experienced, as measured by the McGill Pain Questionnaire, during the 7 day post-operative period.