Description

Pain is the most frequent cause of suffering and disability in society. Chronic pain seriously impairs quality of life of millions of people worldwide. 10-50% of surgical patients report chronic pain after surgery; up to 10% report severe pain. Thus, chronic pain is a significant medical and financial burden to society.

Despite considerable involvement of genetic factors in pain sensation and sensitivity, individual genes involved remain largely unidentified. Knowledge of genetic factors, their phenotypic expression in pain processing, and their link to neuronal correlates can improve understanding of pain aetiology and processes involved in pain perception and chronification. Also, they can serve as biomarkers to predict chronic pain development and progression in patients and help early individual treatment adaptation.

In this study the investigators will establish a prospective database and biobank of patients undergoing elective major surgery. Using data from the database and biobank, the investigators will identify genetic factors contributing to development of acute and chronic pain after surgery.

Over a period of 10 years the investigators will prospectively include up to 10,000 patients visiting the hospital for elective major surgery. Data defining participants demographics, medical history and questionnaire data will be collected and stored in dedicated databases. Additional details (surgery and perioperative management, pain processing phenotypes and surgical and pain outcomes) will be stored.