Please confirm that an ethics committee approval has been applied for or granted: Yes: I’m uploading the Ethics Committee Approval as a PDF file with this abstract submission

Application for ESRA Abstract Prizes: I don’t wish to apply for the ESRA Prizes

Background and Aims Acute post-operative pain management can be challenging due to subjective nature of pain and difficulty in assessing in patients who are sedated after general anesthesia. This study aimed to assess postoperative pain by use of both subjective and objective parameters.

Methods Patients aged 18-60 years, ASA I/II and posted for elective lower abdominal surgery of atleast 4 hours were included. Consent refusal, emergency surgery, history of chronic pain was the exclusion criteria. Subjective markers (VAS, satisfaction score) and objective marker (pupil diameter) were recorded at baseline and at consecutive hours postoperatively (6, 24, 48 hours). Objective marker CNTN1 was measured at baseline and at 48 hours postoperatively.

Results After ethical approval, 40 patients were studied. Mean±SD age was 46.13±11.43 years. VAS score postoperatively at 6, 24 and 48 hours were 3.72±0.87, 3.48±0.87, 1.48±0.50 respectively, showing significant decline at all time intervals. Satisfaction score also improved significantly at 6, 24, 48hours. Mean ± SD of pupil diameter at baseline, 6, 24 and 48hours postoperatively was 4.64±0.94, 5.27±0.86, 5.08±0.77, 4.6±0.89 respectively. CNTN1 at baseline and at 48hours was 0.21±0.026 and 0.19±0.028. We found positive and statistically significant correlation between VAS score and pupil diameter at all time intervals.

Conclusions VAS score correlated well with pupillary diameter. Thus pupillary diameter can be chosen as an objective measurement of postoperative pain severity.

Attachment Adobe Scan 17 May 2023.pdf