Godhwal P, Gupta A, Sirohi A, Gupta N. Chronic postsurgical pain in children: Current evidence and clinical perspectives. World J Clin Pediatr 2026; 15(3): 119840 [DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.119840]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Nishkarsh Gupta, Professor, Department of Onco-Anaesthesia and Palliative Medicine, Dr. B.R.A. Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Room No. 139 FF IRCH, New Delhi 110029, Delhi, India. drnishkarsh@rediffmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Anesthesiology
Article-Type of This Article
review-article
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Godhwal P, Gupta A, Sirohi A, Gupta N. Chronic postsurgical pain in children: Current evidence and clinical perspectives. World J Clin Pediatr 2026; 15(3): 119840 [DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.119840]
Poonam Godhwal, Aarzoo Sirohi, Nishkarsh Gupta, Department of Onco-Anaesthesia and Palliative Medicine, Dr. B.R.A. Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, Delhi, India
Anju Gupta, Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Critical Care, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, Delhi, India
Co-first authors: Poonam Godhwal and Anju Gupta.
Author contributions: Godhwal P, Gupta A, and Gupta N contributed to study conception, definition of intellectual content, and literature search; Godhwal P and Gupta A contributed equally to this manuscript as co-first authors; Godhwal P, Gupta A, Sirohi A, and Gupta N contributed to manuscript preparation, editing, review, and final approval.
AI contribution statement: AI tools were used during manuscript preparation. Specifically, Microsoft Copilot and Grammarly were utilized for language editing, grammar correction, and rephrasing of selected sections to improve clarity and readability.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors report relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Nishkarsh Gupta, Professor, Department of Onco-Anaesthesia and Palliative Medicine, Dr. B.R.A. Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Room No. 139 FF IRCH, New Delhi 110029, Delhi, India. drnishkarsh@rediffmail.com
Received: February 7, 2026 Revised: March 17, 2026 Accepted: June 12, 2026 Published online: September 9, 2026 Processing time: 175 Days and 20.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) may occur in up to 80% of the pediatric population. It is more severe after high-risk surgeries, such as spinal surgery, hernia repair, and thoracotomy. Potential risk factors in the pediatric population include psychosocial behaviors, pre-existing pain, postsurgical pain intensity, and the type of surgery performed. Proposed pathophysiological mechanisms include a proinflammatory state leading to altered peripheral and central sensitization, genomic factors, epigenetic modifications, and altered brain physiology associated with chronic pain. Preoperative protocolized analgesic strategies, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acupuncture have been attempted with varied success rates. Despite growing recognition of CPSP in children, a significant knowledge gap remains, which we aim to address in this review.
