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. 2023 Dec 25;9(4):444-453.
doi: 10.21037/jss-22-110. Epub 2023 Oct 17.

Does a relationship exist between preoperative expectations and overall satisfaction in spine surgery patients?-a prospective cohort study

Jacob Silver  1 , Scott Mallozzi  1 , Cameron Kia  1 , Michael O'Sullivan  1 , Mark Cote  1 , Isaac Moss  1
Affiliations

Does a relationship exist between preoperative expectations and overall satisfaction in spine surgery patients?-a prospective cohort study

Jacob Silver et al. J Spine Surg. .

Abstract

Background: The role of preoperative patient expectation in spine surgery is not completely understood, but could be essential in predicting patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to create a standard means to assess patient preoperative expectations and its effect on postoperative satisfaction in the midterm follow-up period.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study design. Forty-five patients undergoing elective cervical or lumbar spine surgery were asked to participate in the study. Using a 10 cm visual analog scale (VAS) score, patients were asked to rate their preoperative pain along with what they expect it to be after surgery. Pre- and postoperative Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Neck Disability Index (NDI) were recorded. Overall satisfaction with surgery was recorded along with if they would have surgery again. The patients' preoperative expectations were compared to their postoperative ODI/NDI scores at terminal follow-up around 1 year. Postoperative satisfaction was also correlated as to whether they would have surgery again.

Results: Patients who would have surgery again had an average expected decrease in their disability by 37 (±23) compared to 26 (±19) in patients who would not (P=0.201). For patients who would have surgery again, their postoperative pain more closely matched their preoperative expectations.

Conclusions: In conclusion, the authors found that patients who were satisfied with their spine surgery improved functionally to a much greater degree from baseline, tended to have higher expectations with regards to level of disability improvement, and had lower expectations with regards to improvement in neck/back pain.

Keywords: Lumbar; cervical; expectation; outcomes; satisfaction.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jss.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jss-22-110/coif). The series “Minimally Invasive Techniques in Spine Surgery and Trend Toward Ambulatory Surgery” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. I.M. disclosed consulting fees from Stryker Corp. and Pfizer Inc, and received royalty fees from SpineArt SA. C.K. served as the unpaid Guest Editor of the series. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Gender breakdown of entire cohort.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Surgical site breakdown of entire cohort.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Age breakdown for each surgical site.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Degree of satisfaction per group. x-axis = Would you have the same surgery again? y-axis = Degree of post-operative satisfaction from 0–10. VAS, visual analog scale.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Scatterplots depicting correlation between patient satisfaction with surgery (yes/no) and degree of satisfaction (VAS scale) with all patients (A), and with outliers removed (B). VAS, visual analog scale.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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