The value of pupillary diameter in evaluating pain perception after awakening in patients undergoing general anesthesia during orthopedic surgery

The pupillary response to tetanic electrical stimulation reflects the balance between nociceptive stimulation and analgesia. Although pupillary pain index (PPI) was utilized to predict postoperative pain, it depended on tetanic stimulation and was complex. We aim to describe the potential relationship between PD in the presence of surgical stimulation and pain levels after awakening.

According to the Verbal Rating Scale (VRS) score after extubation, the patients were divided into painless group (VRS = 0) and pain group (VRS ≥ 1). Pupillary diameter (PD) and pupillary light reflex velocity (PLRV) were compared between two groups when patients entered the operating room (T₁), before incision (T₂), 10 s after incision (T₃), 30 s after incision (T₄), 1 h after incision (T₅), at the end of surgery (T₆), shortly after extubation (T₇), and when patients expressed pain clearly (T₈). The magnitude of PD change (ΔPD) compared to the baseline value after anesthesia induction (T₂) was calculated. The correlations between pupillary parameters and pain after awakening were calculated.

Patients with VRS ≥ 1 had greater PD than painless patients at T_3-7 (P = 0.04, 0.04, 0.003, <0.001, <0.001), and it was positively correlated with VRS score after awakening at T_4-7 (r = 0.188, 0.217, 0.684, 0.721). The ability of T₆ΔPD to predict VRS ≥ 1 was strong [threshold: 20.53%, area under the curve (AUC): 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89–0.97 ].

Our study indicates that PD is a useful index to direct the individualized analgesics used during operation, to better avoid the occurrence of pain during the postoperative emergence period.

This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR2000040908, registration date: 15/12/2020).