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The Impact of Other Chronic Pain on Opioid Use, Pain Severity, Function and Quality of Life Following Total Knee Arthroplasty
Abstract   Peer reviewed

The Impact of Other Chronic Pain on Opioid Use, Pain Severity, Function and Quality of Life Following Total Knee Arthroplasty

Samantha Webb, Barbara Rakel, Bridget Zimmerman and Jennie Embree
The journal of pain, Vol.41(Supplement), 105855
03/2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2025.105855

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Abstract

The purpose of this secondary analysis is to examine the potential effect that having pre-existing chronic pain at a site other than the one being treated (i.e. other pain sites) has an impact on postoperative opioid and pain medication use, pain severity, pain interference, ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL), and quality of life (QoL). It was hypothesized that individuals who report other pain sites preoperatively would report significantly more opioid and pain medication use, higher pain severity, higher pain interference, lower function with ADLs, and lower QoL at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postoperatively. Linear mixed models with repeated measures were conducted on 331 participants (217 = of whom responded yes to other chronic pain). There was a difference between those with other chronic pain (CPY) and those without (CPN) on reports of pain severity at 3 and 6 months (p = 0.006, CPY mean 4.03[0.14], CPN mean 2.97[0.19]; p = 0.028, CPY mean 4.25[0.14], CPN mean 3.28[0.20]), and QoL at 6 months (p = 0.035, CPY mean 49.4[1.7], CPN mean 57.6[2.4]) with all participants having improved pain, but those with other chronic pain having less improvement with time. This study aimed to inform more tailored, multi-site pain management to optimize outcomes for Veterans who undergo total knee arthroplasty, noting those with other chronic pain sites are likely to have less improvement, need more medications, have more pain and lower QoL which may require additional interventions and education.

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