Scale of post-operative pain perception by patients of the Oncological Urology and the General Urology Departments

Introduction: Postoperative pain control is an essential component of the therapy in the postoperative period.

The aim of study: To assess post-operative pain in patients.

Material and methods: The study was conducted on 100 patients on the third day after surgery. We used an authors’ questionnaire, descriptive scale, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Beliefs about Pain Control Questionnaire.

Results: Ninety-nine percent of patients experienced postoperative wound pain. Thirty-six percent of patients defined the pain intensity as ‘ache’. Thirty-one percent of patients expected a stronger pain and 30% a weaker pain. During the last 24 hours, the highest VAS pain scores were 5.51 ±2.7 while the lowest 3.02 ±2.4. According to the descriptive scale, the strongest pain was most often rated as medium, and the lowest as very small. Mean values of pain control by internal factors in men were 3.0 ±1.54 and in women 3.0 ±1.59; by doctors – in men were 4.0 ±1.42 and in women 4.0 ±1.24; and by random events – in men 4.0 ±1.59, in women 4.0 ±1.68.

Conclusions: The level of satisfaction of the respondents with post-operative pain relief was high, and almost all of them reported that the applied analgesics were effective. The most people felt the strongest pain after 24 hours of the surgery and scored it according to VAS as 8 points. According to the descriptive scale – as mild and the weakest pain of 2 points according to VAS. As to pain control, both women and men represented the undifferentiated strong type, assigning a similar importance to the influence of doctors and medical care, and to accidental events, and the lowest importance to their own capabilities of pain control.