Postoperative Pain and Immunosuppression

Abstract

Acute postoperative pain mainly consists of tissue injury-induced inflammatory pain, and inadequate analgesia is linked to the incidence of chronic post-surgical pain. In addition to the immunosuppression caused by surgical stress in the postoperative period, inhaled anesthetics and opioids have immune-suppressive effects, implying that the use of these agents may inhibit acute inflammation and the wound-healing process, resulting in infection and delayed wound repair. The correlation between the development of postoperative pain and immunosuppression and the impact of postoperative analgesia in the outcome have been indicated in recent years.