Home Anesthesiology No Link Between Pre-Op Cholesterol, Post-Op Pain

No Link Between Pre-Op Cholesterol, Post-Op Pain

Findings based on patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 13, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Preoperative levels of serum total cholesterol (TC) do not correlate with postoperative pain following laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer, according to research published online Nov. 23 in PAIN Practice.

Tak Kyu Oh, M.D., from the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital in South Korea, and colleagues retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 1,919 patients with gastric cancer who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy between Jan. 1, 2011, and July 31, 2017. A correlation between pre-surgery TC levels, Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores, and opioid consumption on postoperative days (PODs) zero to three were investigated.

The researchers observed a weak, but significant, positive correlation between TC and NRS scores on PODs zero and one (P < 0.01). However, when adjusting for confounders, there were no significant differences in postoperative NRS scores, on any day, or oral morphine intake based on TC level.

“Preoperative serum TC levels have no effect on pain outcomes in the three days following laparoscopic gastric surgery,” the authors write.

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