Relationship of anxiety-related symptoms with pain, disability and postoperative period after degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis surgery

Authors : Goktug Ulku, Muhammed Erkan Emrahoğlu, Elif Figen Emrahoğlu, Habibullah Dolgun, Erhan Türkoğlu

Pages : 73-85

Doi:10.31362/patd.1474502

View : 40 | Download : 73

Publication Date : 2025-01-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Purpose: This study investigates the anxiety symptom levels of patients who underwent surgery due to degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS), and the relationship between anxiety symptoms and postoperative pain, disability, and time elapsed after surgery was investigated. Materials and methods: The research study group comprises 71 patients, and the control group comprises 65 healthy individuals. In the study, the pain, disability, and anxiety symptom levels of the patients were evaluated. Postoperative State Anxiety Inventory (SAI) and Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI) scores of DLSS patients and healthy individuals were compared. The variability of the anxiety scores of the individuals in the study group was analyzed in separate groups divided according to gender, postoperative period, pain, and disability scores. Patients were divided into two groups: painful (VAS >6) and pain-free (VAS <7), according to Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores representing pain levels. Results: The results show that the patient\\\'s anxiety symptom levels are higher than the healthy controls and that anxiety scores increase even more in patients with high pain and disability scores. Higher pain and disability scores were associated with higher SAI scores. Moreover, it was found that both the painful early postoperative and painful late postoperative groups had higher SAI scores compared to the pain-free early postoperative and pain-free late postoperative groups. Conclusion: These findings emphasize the importance of considering pain, physical disabilities, and anxiety symptoms together in supporting the postoperative recovery process. It can be said that holistic approaches focusing on pain, physical disabilities and anxiety can positively affect recovery. More extensive and prospective studies are needed to elucidate the causal relationship between these concepts.
Keywords : Anksiyete, engellilik, ağrı, spinal stenoz, ameliyat