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The following is a summary of “Prevalence and Risk factors for the Development of Chronic Postoperative Pain after Cataract Surgery in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS),” published in the January 2025 issue of Pain by Sayegh et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the prevalence of chronic postoperative ocular pain (CPOP) after cataract surgery and identify associated risk factors.
They used data from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), a multicenter, randomized clinical trial, to assess CPOP. Ocular pain was evaluated through item 4 of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25), collected between 1997 and 2005. Participants with cataract surgery and no or mild ocular pain before surgery (n=325) were included. Controls (n=283) reported no or mild pain 3+ months after surgery, while cases (n=42) reported moderate or severe pain. Risk factors such as age, sex, body mass index, smoking, diabetes, education, medication use, general health, and AREDS treatment group were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression.
The results showed 42 of the 325 participants (13%; 95% CI, 9.3–16.6%) developed CPOP. The average time between cataract surgery and the post-surgery questionnaire was 18.4±11.8 months (range: 3.0–65.0 months). Multivariable analysis showed no risk factors for CPOP.
Investigators concluded that 13% of individuals in the AREDS cohort who underwent cataract surgery developed CPOP, with no significant risk factors identified in post-hoc analyses.
Source: jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(25)00016-1/fulltext
