After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, April 9 saw clinicians, researchers and trainees from across the country gather at McMaster's University Club to learn about predictors of pain chronicity following surgery. 
Though the easing of restrictions saw participants able to gather, once more, in person, the symposium still made use technology to incorporate speakers from out of province (and, in one case, out of the continent) to participate remotely. 
Highlights include talks looking at risk assessments of patients undergoing surgery; reducing hospital stays and complications with enhanced recovery programs; mechanisms of, and interventions for, chronic pain after surgery; and patient-centred pre-surgical rehabilitation for lumbar spinal stenosis - to name a few. 
McMaster's own Gurmit Singh kicked off the afternoon sessions with a look at chronic pain as an autoimmune disease. "There is sexual dimorphism in pain perception," said Singh. "Our data suggests that pain is differentially regulated in males and females due to the immune system. Immune modulation in males is dampened by testosterone and heightened in females due to a more robust immune system and the X chromosome."
Presentations are available for attendees to review at mcmaster.ca/persistentpain. The password provided in the registration package is required to view these files.