Table 3. Ranking of most painful surgical procedures.

Maximum pain intensity since surgery (mean)	Surgical procedures (OPS-Code [German surgical procedure code as part of DRG system])
6.0 ± 2.11	Cruciate ligament reconstruction (5-813.4; n = 102)
5.8 ± 2.44	Forearm fracture osteosynthesis (5-794; n = 158)
5.8 ± 2.63	Knee arthroplasty, partially cemented (5-822.12; n = 114)
5.2 ± 2.33	Laparoscopic appendectomy (5-470.1; n = 271)
4.9 ± 3.26	Laparoscopic sigmoid resection (5-455.75; n = 25)

The values given are the mean for the outcome measure "Maximum pain intensity since surgery" (on an 11-point numeric rating scale) for all surgical procedures that were performed at least 25 times in our database (n = 12 389) and in no fewer than half of the participating hospitals.