Understanding Recovery After Surgery: Pain, Confusion, and Brain Inflammation
Official title: Mechanisms involved in postoperative recovery: a focus on pain, delirium, and neuroinflammation
Funded at University of Texas Dallas · NIH-11141800 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project aims to understand why people recover differently after surgery, especially focusing on how pain and confusion happen.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Texas Dallas NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Richardson, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2022 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $389,908 |
| NIH project number | 5R35GM147094-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11141800 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This research is relevant to anyone undergoing surgery, particularly those who might experience significant pain or confusion during their recovery.
✕Less likely to help
Patients seeking immediate new treatments or direct participation in a clinical trial may not find direct benefit from this foundational research.
What this research studies
After surgery, some people experience more pain or confusion than others, and we don't fully understand why. This project explores how certain immune cells in the body and brain, called monocytes and microglia, become active and contribute to these differences in recovery. We are looking at how these cells' activity might lead to issues like pain and confusion after an operation. Our work also considers how factors like age and sex play a role in these brain inflammation processes. We use advanced tools and models to uncover these important connections.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to new ways to predict, prevent, or treat postoperative pain and confusion, improving recovery for many patients.
How similar studies have gone: While previous work has shown that immune system changes can affect pain and thinking abilities with age, the exact mechanisms behind varying postoperative recovery are still largely unknown.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Texas Dallas
Richardson, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Burton, Michael D — University of Texas Dallas
- Study coordinator: Burton, Michael D
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Postoperative recovery: how pain, delirium, and brain inflammation are linked
A study exploring how immune cells in the body and brain influence recovery after surgery, especially pain and delirium, to help patients recover faster.
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Understanding how the body recovers after surgery, focusing on pain and confusion.
This study is exploring how our immune system affects how well people recover after surgery, especially regarding pain and confusion, and it's looking at how things like age and gender play a role, all to help make recovery easier for patients.
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READI-SET-GO: Improving Delirium Screening for Hospitalized Older Adults
A hospital-based program tests how well routine nurse delirium screening using UB-CAM works when integrated into the electronic health record to improve outcomes for older patients.
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Continuous wearable monitor with AI to prevent agitation and delirium in hospitalized older adults
A wearable sensor and AI system will continuously track agitation in older hospital patients to help prevent delirium and protect brain health.
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Low brain changes from anesthesia may signal early Alzheimer's risk
A study at Stanford will look at whether brain responses to anesthesia during surgery reveal early brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease and delirium risk in people aged 65 and up.
-
Why dementia and sudden confusion (delirium) often happen together
This project looks at brain electrical signals and chemical changes to find why people with dementia sometimes develop sudden confusion called delirium.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.