Patients' Expectations Before Spinal Surgery

Background Surgery can be an overwhelming and often life-changing experience for patients. To mitigate this experience a patient-centered approach can be beneficial. Patient-centered care is defined as providing care that is "respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs and values, and which ensures that patient values guide all clinical decisions". Patient-centeredness should be considered in discussions about the value of surgical treatment for the patient and the expectations regarding the process of postoperative rehabilitation, especially considering the patient's definition of a successful outcome. The meaning of rehabilitation may vary between stakeholders involved in surgery, including patients, surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, and hospital administrators. Studies addressing strategies to improve rehabilitation, such as minimally invasive surgery and enhanced recovery pathways, commonly focus on measures such as complication rates, gastrointestinal activity, physical function, and duration of hospital stay. These parameters are mostly relevant to clinicians and administrators, but they do not reflect the complexity of the rehabilitation process or include the patient's perspective and expectations.

In musculoskeletal practice, patients' expectations have been reported as a valuable predictor for treatment outcomes in patients with acute and chronic pain. Patients with higher expectations regarding the treatment report better outcomes than those with lower expectations. Previous studies have investigated the relationship between expectations and postoperative satisfaction in patients undergoing spinal surgery, and some evidence suggests patients' expectations also impact rehabilitation after surgery.

Patients undergoing spinal surgery usually suffer from moderate to severe pain during the perioperative and postoperative period, which is associated with developing persistent pain 8 and compromises patients' quality of life.

Lumbar disc herniation is one of the most common musculoskeletal diseases which, in some cases, can compromise patients' quality of life, and the most common operations performed on the spine. A previous study has shown that persistent pain after surgery for lumbar disc herniation is negatively associated with psychological and physical well-being, and the overall quality of life is decreased.

This study hypothesize that interviewing patients in a semi-structured manner would give unique perspectives on what is important to patients, as opposed to what is important to researchers. Further, the study hypothesize that patients' preoperative expectations for spinal surgery can affect postoperative rehabilitation. Gaining an in-depth understanding of the process of recovery from the patient´s perspective can, ultimately, guide patient-centered care and future research.

Inclusion criteria

Patients undergoing elective spinal surgery. Patients able to read and understand Danish.

Exclusion criteria

Patients with cognitive deficits, such as dementia. Patients with alcohol and drug dependence.