Katijjahbe MA, Royse C, Granger C, et al. - Researchers undertook this prospective observational study in Australia to determine the specific clinical characteristics of pain after cardiac surgery as well as to assess the information obtained from different pain measurement instruments employed to measure and define pain in this population. This analysis involved 72 adults (mean age, 63±11 years) after cardiac surgery via a median sternotomy. Before hospital discharge, 4 weeks, and 3 months postoperatively, participants were assessed using the Patient Identified Cardiac Pain using numeric and visual prompts, the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form version 2 and the Medical Outcome Study 36-item version 2 Bodily Pain domain. Post-sternotomy, the presence of mild (63%)-to-moderate (31%) pain was a frequent finding in this population, and improvement in pain was evident over time, and the incision and mammary (internal thoracic) artery harvest site was the most common location of pain. Persistent pain at 3 months continued to be a significant issue within this surgical population. Each pain measurement instrument offered different information regarding pain location, severity and description, with significant alteration over time.