April 29, 2014 13:00 — 5 Comments
Study: Spine Surgeons Need to Screen More Patients for Anxiety, Depression
Researchers from Johns Hopkins report that only 10 percent of neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons follow professional guidelines that recommend routine psychological screenings of patients prior to major surgery for severe back and leg pain, an oversight that may risk surgical recovery. Recently published in the Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques, the report, based on a survey of spine surgeons, is believed to be the first gauge of how many actually use a two-part, presurgical psychological screening test, known as PPS. “Our survey results show that surgeons and patients still have a long way to go in recognizing and appreciating how much psychological factors and mental health can impact the success of their back surgeries,” says health services researcher and senior study investigator Richard Skolasky, Sc.D. Researchers also say that they were surprised to discover that spine surgeons in private practice or in community hospitals carried out more psychological screening tests than their counterparts in larger, university-affiliated hospitals. To learn more about the study, click here.
I agree that presurgical psychological screening test is very important part of management of most spine disorders, mainly disc prolapses … anxiety and depression affect female than male. I do that for all patients.
Report this comment
I totally agree that psycological valuation is really most important before spine surgery, mainly disc surgery!
Report this comment
This is something that spine nurses caring for pos-top patients have known for decades. Chronic back pain almost always has a huge psych component, which includes anxiety, depression and substance abuse. It is something that surgeons tend to ignore and hope will go away with surgery. That rarely happens.
Report this comment
In these patients, backache should be treated as a part of anxiety-depressive complex, and for disc surgery, these anxiety and depressive patients carries poor prognosis and dissatisfaction.
Report this comment
This is a really good study focusing on the main problem after back surgery we are encountering. After surgery, it is very difficult to council and reassure the patient with failed back syndrome, and it results in prolong hospital stays and unnecessary medications.
Report this comment