Acute pain after breast surgery decreases the quality of life of cancer survivors. Previous studies using a variety of definitions and methods report prevalence rates between 10% and 80%, which suggests the need for a comprehensive framework that can be used to guide assessment of acute pain and pain-related outcomes after breast surgery. A multidisciplinary task force with clinical and research expertise performed a focused review and synthesis and applied the 5 dimensional framework of the AAAPT (Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks [ACTTION], American Academy of Pain Medicine [AAPM], American Pain Society [APS] Pain Taxonomy) to acute pain after breast surgery. Application of the AAAPT taxonomy yielded the following: 1) Core Criteria: Location, timing, severity, and impact of breast surgery pain were defined; 2) Common Features: Character and expected trajectories were established in relevant surgical subgroups, and common pain assessment tools for acute breast surgery pain identified; 3) Modulating Factors: Biological, psychological, and social factors that modulate interindividual variability were delineated; 4) Impact/Functional Consequences: Domains of impact were outlined and defined; 5) Neurobiologic Mechanisms: Putative mechanisms were specified ranging from nerve injury, inflammation, peripheral and central sensitization, to affective and social processing of pain. PERSPECTIVE: The AAAPT provides a framework to define and guide improved assessment of acute pain after breast surgery, which will enhance generalizability of results across studies and facilitate meta-analyses and studies of interindividual variation, and underlying mechanism. It will allow researchers and clinicians to better compare between treatments, across institutions, and with other types of acute pain.

Objective:To identify factors associated with pain severity and opioid consumption in the early perioperative period. Design:Prospective observational cohort study. Setting:Tertiary academic medical center. Subjects:Patients with osteoarthritis older than age 45 years undergoing primary total knee replacement at Brigham and Women's Hospital. A total of 126 patients enrolled. Methods:Preoperatively, pain questionnaires and quantitative sensory testing were performed on patients to develop a psychosocial and psychophysical profile. Postoperatively, pain scores and opioid consumption were measured as primary end points. Univariate and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine the predictive value of these characteristics on perioperative pain scores and opioid consumption. Results:Regression analysis revealed several predictors of acute postoperative pain scores including temporal summation of pain (TSP; P = 0.001), body mass index (BMI; P = 0.044), number of previous knee surgeries (P = 0.006), and female gender (P = 0.023). Similarly, predictors of opioid utilization included TSP (P = 0.011), BMI (P = 0.02), age (P = <0.001), and tourniquet time (P = 0.003). Conclusions:The only significant, unique predictors of both pain and opioid consumption were TSP, an index of central pain facilitatory processes, and BMI. Interestingly, psychosocial factors, such as catastrophizing and somatization, although correlated with postoperative pain scores and opioid consumption, generally did not independently explain substantial variance in these measures. This study suggests that BMI and quantitative sensory testing, specifically the temporal summation of pain, may provide value in the preoperative assessment of patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty and other surgeries via predicting their level of risk for adverse pain outcomes.