Interactions Between Pulmonary Performance and Movement-Evoked Pain in the Immediate Postsurgical Period: Implications for Perioperative Research and Treatment

Considering these and previous results, pulmonary function tests such as PEF should be considered for more routine use as functional surrogates of movement-evoked pain in analgesic trials of thoracic and abdominal surgery. Mechanisms of immediate postoperative movement-evoked pain may differ from those in effect at later time points after which tissue inflammation and spinal sensitization develop. Because pain adversely impacts upon postoperative rehabilitation, these results further imply that aggressive treatment of movement-evoked pain could improve the outcome of postoperative rehabilitation measures if both are implemented very early after surgery.