Incidence, risk factors, prevention and treatment of postmastectomy pain syndrome in breast cancer: A multicenter study

Postmastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) is a common postoperative condition after breast cancer surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence rate and risk factors of PMPS, and to propose prevention and treatment methods. The study included 1790 postoperative breast cancer patients from three hospitals from 2017 to 2021, of which 302 (13.0%) patients with PMPS were included in the study. Age, breast surgery type, axillary surgery type and radiotherapy are the risk factors of PMPS. Age, radiotherapy and chemotherapy affect the pain degree of PMPS during movement. For breast cancer patients with high risk factors, pain should be actively prevented during perioperative period. Oral pharmacological agents, multidisciplinary combination therapy, local anesthetics and regional anesthesia are the most common treatment of PMPS.