Date

6-26-2025

Department

School of Health Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences (PhD)

Chair

Rana Walley

Keywords

surgical preparedness, preoperative preparation, spine surgery readiness, spine surgery satisfaction survey

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

Spinal conditions effect millions of Americans each year and surgery for these conditions continues to be on the rise. Historically, spine surgery was associated with negative outcomes and fear, often considered a last resort by both patients and physicians. In the last 20 years, spine surgery has become one of the most rapidly advancing surgical fields and is at the forefront of technological advances and ongoing innovation. Today, spine patients have minimally invasive options that are performed in under half the time and are associated with less muscle weakening and adjacent level irritation, as well as more reliable spinal alignment restoration. With these surgical advancements have come vast improvements in surgical outcomes, which were taken one step further by the modernization of the recovery process after surgery, known as enhanced surgical recovery (ESR) programs. Yet, there is one more phase of the surgical encounter, in addition to the surgical and postoperative phases, which has not been strategically modernized to improve outcomes even further. This is the preoperative phase. A standardized protocol of items necessary to prepare patients for surgery, both mentally and physiologically, does not exist. The result may be a lack of preparedness for spine surgery leading to unrealistic patient expectations, poor patient experiences, and compromised patient outcomes. This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate patient readiness for spine surgery and to identify gaps in surgical readiness of spine patients today.

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