A systematic review of the added value of perioperative pain neuroscience education

Objective: To identify and summarize evidence about the benefits of perioperative pain neuroscience education (PNE) on pain-related and psychosocial outcomes.

Methods: Included were reports written in English that carried out PNE or its synonyms; perioperative period; aged ≥ 18 years; interventional studies and observational studies. Secondary studies, conference abstracts, and editorials were excluded. There was no time limitation.

Information sources: PubMed, Virtual Health Library, Cochrane Library, and Science Direct. Search: June 20th 2023. The risk of bias was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklists, and synthesis followed the recommendations of the Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guideline. Register: Center for Open Science website (10.17605/OSF.IO/ZTNEJ).

Results: The sample consisted of 18 reports. For pain outcomes, it was not possible to attribute PNE benefits because ten reports found improvements in both intervention and control groups. For psychosocial outcomes, fourteen reports found benefits for PNE groups. All the analyzed reports showed low risk of bias.

Conclusion: PNE had additional benefits beyond those obtained with conventional treatment for psychosocial outcomes.

Practical implications: Due to the lack of evidence, it was not possible to indicate the clinical use of PNE. It is suggested that further studies are needed aimed at clarifying the possible benefits.