PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Vilà-canet, Gemma
AU  - Covaro, Augusto
AU  - Isart, Anna
AU  - Cáncer, David
AU  - Ciccolo, Francesco
AU  - de Frutos, Ana García
AU  - Ubierna, Maite
AU  - Cáceres, Enric
TI  - Elective Lumbar Spine Surgery in Depressed Patients: Is it Worth it?
AID  - 10.14444/8062
DP  - 2021 May 05
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 8062
4099  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/early/2021/04/30/8062.short
4100  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/early/2021/04/30/8062.full
AB  - Background The objective of this study is to compare surgical results (pain, function, and satisfaction) between a group of depressed patients and a nondepressed group who had been operated on for a degenerative lumbar condition.Methods Prospective observational study. Preoperative pain (lumbar and radicular visual analog scale [VAS]), function (Oswestry Disability Index [ODI]), and depression (Zung depression scale) data were collected in patients listed to be operated on for a lumbar degenerative condition. One year postoperatively, ODI and VAS data were collected again as well as a satisfaction question (are you satisfied with the surgical results? Yes/no).Results Ninety-seven patients were included in the study, 78 nondepressed patients (80.4%) and 19 depressed patients (19.6%). Preoperatively, depressed patients had more lumbar pain (P = .00) and more functional limitation (P = .01) than nondepressed patients. One year postoperatively, depressed patients had more radicular pain (P = .029) and more functional limitation (P = .03) than non-depressed patients. The overall improvement of pain and function was similar between both groups (not significant). Seventy percent of depressed patients and 80% of nondepressed patients were satisfied with the surgical outcome (P = .52) 1 year postoperatively.Conclusion Depressed patients experience the same overall level of improvement as nondepressed patients, despite having more pain and functional limitation preoperatively and 1 year after elective lumbar spine surgery than nondepressed patients. The level of satisfaction does not differ significantly between the two groups.Level of Evidence 2.