The importance of psychological preparation for back
surgery
Preparing for back surgery
Extensive research
has shown that use of psychological techniques to prepare
for back surgery can improve the patient’s overall
experience and enhance the ultimate outcome from back
surgery. Importantly, rather than being limited to
a passive role, psychological preparation before spine
surgery can help empower
patients to positively impact their healing and recovery.
The stress of an illness or injury, the impending
back surgery, and the recovery process after back surgery
can all have a significant impact on a patient’s
physical, psychological and social state. Psychological
preparation for spine surgery can help patients address
potential problems in all three of these areas before
they occur to prevent or minimize their impact.
Stresses of back surgery
Any kind of surgery creates a serious amount of
stress, and surgery for back pain is certainly no exception.
The back surgery process and surgical pain are
major physical and psychological stressors, extending
from the decision to have the operation until the recovery
is complete
1. Back surgery process
Following a back surgery, physical and psychological
processes occur that can cause problems which impede
healing and recovery, such as:
Overall, the patient’s physical response to
stress in connection with the spine surgery can have
harmful effects on one’s body in several ways,
including:
-
Increased blood pressure
-
Increased heart rate
-
Increased muscle tension
-
Rapid and shallow breathing
-
Release of stress hormones
-
Reduced blood flow to certain areas of the body
-
Diminished immune system function
-
Slowed tissue healing time
2. Surgical pain following back surgery
Physical pain is also a source of stress, and inadequate
pain control after spine surgery can be very demoralizing.
Patients who are provided with adequate pain management
become active sooner and show significantly less emotional
distress when recovering from back surgery.
Ensuring adequate pain control is an important issue.
Research has shown that less than 50% of all surgical
patients are provided with adequate pain control following
surgery. The government mandated national guidelines
for the management of surgical pain in 1992 (through
the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research {AHCPR}).
The guidelines reviewed an abundance of research showing
that poorly controlled pain impairs healing and recovery.
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