# Preventing the Transition from Acute to Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in Adolescents after Surgery: The Role of Sleep

> **NIH NIH K24** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $178,684

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Acute and chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain are important health concerns across the lifespan, and surgery
is a chief inciting event for subsequent persistent pain. Eighty percent of adolescents undergoing major MSK
surgery report severe acute pain, and 20% develop chronic postsurgical pain. Having chronic pain in childhood
and adolescence increases risk for a continued negative trajectory of MSK pain and poor health outcomes in
adulthood, contributing to the national pain crisis. This K24 award will provide critical support for Dr. Rabbitts, a
NIAMS-supported Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington
(UW). The candidate's programmatic research has focused on developing innovative methods to identify
biopsychosocial contributors to acute and chronic pain following MSK surgery in adolescents. During the
course of this award, she will complete currently supported research: R01AR073780 which aims to increase
understanding of the transition from acute to chronic postsurgical pain and the causal mechanisms involved,
and UH3HD102038 (HEAL clinical trial) which evaluates the effectiveness of an mHealth perioperative
psychosocial intervention to reduce acute and chronic pain in adolescents undergoing major musculoskeletal
surgery. The candidate will expand her interprofessional mentoring program to build a strong and diverse
cohort of pain scientists equipped to develop and implement long-term solutions to the MSK pain crisis through
prevention. This K24 will also allow extension of the candidate's perioperative research program through
training in sleep methodologies and building new collaborations to forge a novel research direction focused on
sleep. The specific aims of the two new research studies proposed are to: 1) test pain processing as a
mediator in the relationship between adolescent sleep immediately following surgery and subsequent MSK
pain at 2 months after spine surgery, and 2) to determine feasibility of peri-operative melatonin in youth
undergoing MSK surgery. The four projects will provide mentees with rigorous methodological training in a
broad range of pain research assessment and intervention methods. This will capitalize on the wealth of
opportunities available at SCRI and UW to actively engage promising trainees in the candidate's role as a
physician-scientist, including via the SCRI Pediatric Pain Research Postdoctoral Fellowship and the UW T32
Training Program in Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine Research. Release from clinical activities
provided by this award will allow the candidate to expand mentees at the fellow level, while enhancing
mentorship skills, to equip a new generation of pain researchers with necessary scientific and professional
skills, resiliency, and commitment to pain science, to make a sustained impact on the pain crisis. The K24 will
also accelerate the candidate's research momentum informing the Type II renewal of her R01 and a new U01
ef...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10852968
- **Project number:** 5K24AR080786-03
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Rabbitts
- **Activity code:** K24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $178,684
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10852968

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10852968, Preventing the Transition from Acute to Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in Adolescents after Surgery: The Role of Sleep (5K24AR080786-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10852968. Licensed CC0.

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