Catastrophizing A Predictor Of Chronic Pain After Knee Replacement

What better study to show the power of negative thinking (catastrophizing) and how it can contribute to chronic pain than looking at people who have had a whole knee joint replaced but continue to have pain afterwards. If you take out a damaged joint and it’s the cause of pain, the pain should go away. This study shows the power of our thinking and how it has the potential to create continuing pain, even in the absence of any structural issues. Here’s the conclusion to this systematic review below:

CONCLUSION: This study provides moderate-level evidence for pain catastrophizing as an independent predictor of chronic pain post-TKA.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25609995/