LAUSR

Abstract Background and aims Post-operative pain after caesarean operation remains one of the major complains after delivery. With the rising rate of caesarean deliveries, the assessment and management of acute pain has become a major concern for medical professionals in Ghana. The aim was to determine the association between the neuroplasticity of pain and depression using a postoperative pain assessment among women after caesarean section in Ghana. Methods A descriptive pilot studies consisting of 54 women who have undergone caesarean operations and reported of acute pain after three months were conducted in King David Hospital and Neptune Medical centre. A purposeful sampling was used to complete the Numeric Pain Scale (NPS) and the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale to justify the inclusion criteria. While the Pain Quality Assessment Scale (PQAS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were completed by participant. Results On the characteristics of their pain respondents scored above 7, on average, for hot pains (7.04 ±2.028, minimum of 5 and maximum of 10), unpleasant pains (7.33±1.907, minimum of 5 and maximum of 10), intense and deep pain (7.35 ±1.825, minimum of 5 and maximum of 10) and intense but surface (7.38 ±1.784, minimum of 5 and maximum of 10), each with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10. This implies that for each of those types of pain, respondents scored very high levels of intensity. Similarly, on intensity of pain sensation (6.43 ±1.814, minimum of 5 and maximum of 10), sharpness of pain (6.53±1.772, minimum of 5 and maximum of 10), how dull their pains felt (6.38 ±2.603, minimum of 0 and maximum of 10) sensitiveness of their skins (6.75 ±1.9, minimum of 4 and maximum of 10) and how itchy (6.98±2.137, minimum of 4 and maximum of 10) their skins felt with their respective standard deviations. On the depression scale, more than half of the respondents (51.9%) captured in this study had moderate depression. Conclusions We ultimately sought to conduct a test of association between ten indicators of quality of pain and depression. There turned out to be significant association between intensity of pain and depression (χ2 = 21.507; p < 0.001) simply implying that where there is a rise in intensity of pain, there is likely going to be depression. There was also a significant association between sharp sensation and depression (χ2 =31.256).