Abstract
Postoperative chronic pain is a serious health problem affecting many patients after otherwise successful surgery and decreasing them quality of life. In spite of many studies, the exact mechanism responsible for evolution of acute postoperative pain to chronic pain which is still present after standard time of healing.
This review describes the new WHO definition of chronic postoperative pain, prevalence after various types of surgeries, risk factors and recent knowledge of mechanisms responsible for transition from acute to chronic pain. Because of complex and still unclear aetiology of persistent postsurgical pain, we do not have recently any effective way of prevention.
Therapy is complex as well with multimodal approach at a specialised pain clinic.