Wisconsin experts have found that chronic pain is a symptom associated with long-lasting cases of COVID-19, according to a literature review by researchers at UW Health.

Pain has been linked with COVID-19 infections since the pandemic, but long-lasting chronic pain indicates the virus may impact the human body in ways we are just starting to understand, according to Dr. Alaa Abd-Elsayed, associate professor of anesthesiology, UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and medical director of the Pain Management Clinic at UW Health.

“There seems to be a correlation between the virus and pain that manifests in certain parts of the body,” Abd-Elsayed said.

The research by UW Health found that chronic pain was more common in patients who were hospitalized for a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and particularly for those who were cared for in an intensive care unit. Patient age and overall physical condition also likely contribute to patient risk for chronic pain post-infection, according to the UW Health researchers.

The review was started because of similarities Dr. Abd-Elsayed was seeing in his patients. 

“We had a suspicion that cases of chronic pain might be something more systemic, not just a collection of cases at our clinic. So, we scoured the internet looking for any substantiated data, and we discovered that this and to a lesser extent, other types of pain like testicular pain appear to be a long-lasting symptom of a COVID-19 infection,” Abd-Elsayed said.