Understanding What Causes Long-Term Pain After Breast Removal Surgery

This research study is trying to understand why some women develop long-term pain after mastectomy (breast removal surgery), while others do not. Researchers will follow 200 women before and after their surgery to identify the factors that increase the risk of chronic pain—such as age, chemotherapy, radiation, or how severe pain is right after surgery. By finding these patterns, doctors hope to develop better ways to prevent long-term pain in future patients.

Up to half of women who have mastectomy experience chronic pain, and about 10% have severe pain that greatly affects their quality of life. Currently, there is not enough research to fully understand what causes this long-term pain or how to prevent it, even though it affects hundreds of thousands of women.