Preoperative factors, including the assessment of personality and pain threshold, were measured and the relationships between them and severity of postoperative pain and pulmonary complications were investigated in 50 female patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy. The neuroticism scores showed significant relationships with the vital capacity impairments at 24 hours and the chest complication scores. The correlation between neuroticism scores and the subjective pain assessments showed only a trend, but the lie scores and the subjective pain assessments were interrelated. Although pre-existing chest disease affected the incidence of postoperative chest complications, other measured preoperative factors showed little influence on postoperative progress. There was a significant correlation between the subjective pain assessment score and postoperative vital capacity impairment. The personality factors, neuroticism and lie score, should be measured and considered in future studies on postoperative pain and pulmonary complications.