Effect of Spinal Surgery on Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain, Clinical Study Evaluated with The SF-36 Quality of Life Scale

ABSTRACT: Background: Chronic low back pain is a disabling condition degrading peoples quality of life. Low back pain is the most common disease that neurosurgeons encounter in practice and the most common complaint that requires admission to outpatient clinics. Although the incidence of low back pain in the general population is 5% and 90% of the cases heal spontaneously within one month. In our study, the results of the quality of life scale of the patients who applied with the complaint of chronic low back pain within the clinical course and who had undergone spinal surgery and those who did not, were compared. Methods: 110 patients with chronic low back pain (chronic low back pain: lasting more than 12 weeks), who had undergone lumbar spinal surgery and who had not, were included in the study. Patients with chronic low back pain who underwent spinal surgery and not undergoing spinal surgery were compared with SF-36 quality of life outcome scale. The statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05 in the calculations. Results: Physical functionality, emotional role difficulty, social functionality, pain and general health perception sub-dimensions of quality of life were found to be statistically significantly higher in males (p<0.05), In our study, physical functionality (for example, activities that require physical effort such as walking), physical role difficulty, emotional role difficulty and general health perception scores were found to be significantly lower in patients with a history of spinal surgery (p<0.05), and also social functionality (for example, going to a neighbor's ), scores were found to be significantly lower in those with a history of surgery (p:0.087). Conclusion: When the early results of the surgical treatment for chronic low back pain are evaluated, it is seen that the pain is reduced and often eliminated, but it has been observed that it does not help the patients regain the correct body image, improve their functional abilities, and improve their quality of life in long-term follow-ups. In this case, before the surgery, especially the histories of the patients should be taken well, their expectations should be questioned, the benefits they can gain from surgery according to their age should be taken into account, the expectations and lifestyles of the people in the postoperative process are also extremely effective in well-being, no matter how good surgery is performed.