Post-COVID pain syndrome

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives and health of people all around the world. Although majority of patients with COVID-19 experience respiratory symptoms, pain is also a very important symptom. The condition of 15-20% of patients is serious and requires hospitalization. Despite the fact that the disease was initially referred to as a respiratory disease, it often affects other systems as well;the most common are the cardiovascular, urologic and nervous system. Multi-organ involvement increases the need for intensive care and treatment of several consequences caused by the disease. Due to severity of the disease, the management of complications following release from hospital should also be considered. The provision of multidisciplinary care that supports both physical and mental recovery in the initial stages of hospitalization can minimize the damage. Cognitive, physical and mental dysfunction reported by COVID-19 patients after discharge may have significant impact on the quality of human life. Pain is usually part of the dysfunction. The post-COVID-19 pain syndrome is still not completely understood, in particular the way it affects patients after they have recovered from COVID-19. There is limited information on the clinical characteristics, treatment, results and pain management in COVID-19 patients. The aim of our article is to provide an overview of the impact COVID-19 has on conditions associated with acute and chronic pain.