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Background Although cesarean delivery is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures, robust data regarding post-cesarean pain is still lacking. Recent studies showed an association between pain upon local anesthetic (LA) injection for spinal anesthesia, or the use of a "three simple questions", and acute post-cesarean pain. Nevertheless, these assessments have yet to be validated further, despite their relative ease of use. We aimed to assess the association between pain score upon LA injection with acute post-cesarean pain after 24 hours at rest (primary outcome) and sub-acute post-cesarean pain lasting for 4 weeks or more (secondary outcome). Methods Women undergoing cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia were given pre-operative questionnaires on pain and psychological vulnerability. We also assessed the pain score upon LA injection and mechanical temporal summation. Univariate and multivariable logistic regressions were performed. Results The incidence of moderate-to-severe acute post-cesarean pain at 24 hours was 21.0% (95% CI=16.6-27.6%) (48 of 217 patients). Pain score upon LA injection was not significantly associated with acute post-cesarean pain after 24 hours at rest (unadjusted OR=1.10, 95% CI=0.95-1.27, P=0.21). However, pain score upon LA injection was significantly associated with sub-acute post-cesarean pain (adjusted OR=1.29, 95% CI=1.07-1.55, P=0.0089) with significant covariate of increased pre-operative central sensitization inventory (CSI) scores (adjusted OR=1.05, 95% CI=1.01-1.09, P=0.0111; area under the curve (AUC)=0.691). Conclusion There was no association between increased pain score upon LA injection and acute post-cesarean pain, but it was associated with sub-acute post-cesarean pain. Further work is needed to define pain score upon LA injection as a convenient pragmatic measure of risk stratifying patients predisposed to sub-acute post-cesarean pain.

Xiu Ling Jacqueline Sim,1 Chin Wen Tan,2,3 Cheng Teng Yeam,4 Hon Sen Tan,2,3 Rehena Sultana,5 Ban Leong Sng2,3 1Department of Anesthesiology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore; 2Department of Women’s Anesthesia, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore, Singapore; 3Anesthesiology and Perioperative Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore; 4MOH Holdings, Singapore, Singapore; 5Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, SingaporeCorrespondence: Ban Leong Sng Tel +65 6394 1081Fax +65 6291 2661Email sng.ban.leong@singhealth.com.sgBackground: Labor pain is a variable and complex experience with both sensory and affective components. Pain catastrophizing tendencies are predictive of increased distress during labor. Likewise, pain severity has important associations with increased depressive symptoms in mothers, with consequences on perinatal and infant outcomes. Hence, we investigated the association between increased early labor pain with both pre-delivery pain catastrophizing and depressive states.Methods: We recruited nulliparous women who had requested labor epidural analgesia. Pre-delivery questionnaires including short-form McGill pain questionnaire– 2 (SF-MPQ-2), pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), and Edinburgh postnatal depression score (EPDS) were administered.Results: A total of 712 women completed the pre-delivery questionnaires. There was a significant association between SF-MPQ-2 neuropathic subscale and EPDS ≥ 10 (unadjusted OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.11– 2.73, p = 0.0161), as well as PCS ≥ 25 (unadjusted OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.06– 2.26, p = 0.0244). SF-MPQ-2 sensory intermittent subscale and EPDS ≥ 10 (unadjusted OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.34– 3.03, p = 0.0007), and PCS ≥ 25 (unadjusted OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.14– 2.23, p = 0.0069) also showed significant association.Conclusion: Increased sensory intermittent and neuropathic subsets of early labor pain are significantly correlated with increased pre-delivery pain catastrophizing and depressive states in nulliparous women. This positive association may be useful for pre-delivery risk stratification for early interventions towards a more holistic care management.Keywords: labor pain, pain catastrophizing, pre-delivery depression, survey