Anesthesia & Pain Management Insider: How to better predict a patient's risk of postsurgical pain

Dear Anesthesia & Pain Management Insider,

Clinical factors, including pain severity before and during root canals, may better predict the risk of postoperative pain than sociodemographic characteristics such as race and income. The study was published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology. The information may improve the pain management expectations of patients and clinicians. Read more in our Insider Exclusive.

Also in our Anesthesia & Pain Management Community, supplemental regional anesthesia may reduce opioid use in patients following microvascular free flap reconstruction of the oral cavity. The study, which was published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, also revealed that regional anesthesia was not associated with adverse events or more days in the hospital.

Did you know that clinicians are experiencing orofacial pain, including temporomandibular disorders, related to the ongoing use of N95 filtering facepiece respirators and masks? Therefore, mask-associated orofacial pain should be investigated for proper management and prevention, according to a perspective published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

In another study published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, advising patients about what they can expect before a third-molar extraction procedure may help reduce their dental anxiety and postoperative pain. The study's authors attributed the decrease in reported pain to "improved adjustment and coping" and reduced anxiety levels.

Finally, a joint U.S. health and pain reduction consortium granted awards to researchers to create 3D innervation maps of different sensory neurons found in the knee and the temporomandibular joint to study how neurons create pain. Researchers hope the discoveries lead to new, more precise therapies for reducing joint pain and deterioration and restoring healthy joints.