Gender differences in post-operative pain and patient controlled analgesia use among adolescent surgical patients

The aim of this study was to explore gender differences in anticipatory emotional distress, coping strategies, post-operative pain perception, and patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) use among adolescent surgical patients. One hundred and two 12-18-year-old adolescents undergoing surgeries with overnight hospital stay were recruited. Participants completed pre-operative measures of anxiety and anticipated pain. Post-operatively, they reported on coping skills, post-operative anxiety, and pain. Data on PCA use were recorded from medical records. Girls reported higher levels of pre-operative state anxiety and anticipated more pain. After surgery, girls and boys differed on their lowest daily pain ratings and average daily pain ratings, with girls reporting more pain in both cases. Reports of highest daily pain were similar across genders. Gender was found to moderate the relationship between anticipatory distress and post-operative pain, such that higher anticipatory distress before surgery predicted more post-operative pain for girls, but not for boys. Patterns of PCA use did not vary by gender on post-operative days 0 or 1. Findings suggest that adolescent boys' and girls' pain experiences are different in several important respects, although somewhat less divergent than has been reported in samples of adult males and females. Results have implications for the development of targeted intervention strategies to help adolescents cope effectively with acute post-operative pain. (C) 2004 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.