[Postoperative pain after interventions in the area of the mouth-jaw-face].

In order to establish effective postoperative analgesia we studied the incidence and significance of pain following maxillofacial surgery. The trial included 102 patients undergoing one of six different surgical procedures. Postoperative pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the short form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) up to the third postoperative day. Postoperative pain intensity was significantly correlated to operating time, the frequency of analgesic demand and the type of surgery (orthognathic surgery > TMJ surgery > osteosynthetic surgery > osteotomy of impacted third molars > tumor resection > removal of osteosynthetic materials). Patient's age, sex and ethnic origin did not significantly affect the severity of postoperative pain.