How common is pain after surgery for breast cancer? And what can be done about it?
A. More common than most people realize. Here is another instance in which the feelings of patients have been systematically ignored. For instance, there is no mention of post-mastectomy pain in the major cancer textbooks. Now, an article in the October 1, 1999 issue of the journal Pain shows the actual state of affairs. Scottish researchers surveyed 408 breast cancer survivors who had had mastectomies. And 43 percent revealed that they had suffered from postmastectomy pain, while 29 percent reported current symptoms. There was a high prevalence in younger women (65 percent) which decreased to 26 percent in the over-70 year group. There are many approaches to the problem of pain, but you may have to try a number of them before you find relief. Physicians sometimes prescribe tricyclic antidepressants or other drugs. Some kinds of pain are relieved by anticonvulsants or corticosteroids. There are also trigger point injections, neural blockade, and nitrous oxide inhalations. And, if all e
