Figure 1.

The transition from acute pain to chronic pain. This figure illustrates the complex process through which acute postoperative pain can progress to chronic pain: Surgical trauma or tissue injury activate nociceptive systems. Perioperative factors, such as the type of surgery, analgesic approach, and pain catastrophizing, interact with social-environmental and biological factors to influence pain modulation mechanisms. Increased postsurgical pain intensity and duration, driven by neurotransmitter activity, molecular mechanisms, stress responses, and MiR-339-5p activity, contribute to the development of high clinical pain intensity and chronic postsurgical pain.