Chronic arthritic knee pain is common among elderly population and over 700,000 Americans undergo total knee replacement surgery each year. Up to third of those opted for knee replacement often report persistent pain after knee replacement.
Could there be a non-pharmacological alternative to pain management when dealing with post-operative pain? A recent paper published in the journal of Pain Medicine went about checking the usefulness of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) in treating post-op pain. 22 individuals who have had their knees replaced were matched with a similar cohort. First group got four weeks of mindfulness training. Both groups were assessed at baseline, at six weeks, and three-and-six-month period post-surgery.
“Compared with matched controls, patients who received MBCT had lower pain severity and pain interference at 6 weeks after surgery”, the journal noted. More so, “Group differences in outcomes were mediated by changes in pain catastrophizing but not by changes in depression or anxiety.” Both groups didn’t differ in pain perception at three- and six-month level, probably because most of the post-op pains tend to resolve in the long term.
Since mindfulness has been found be effective in tamping down the tendency to catastrophize, non-judgmental attention to painful sensations could be helpful in the reduced perception of pain.
Other studies have also shown that mindfulness skills are useful in managing pain.
