Pain and functional disability after lumbar microdiscectomy and their correlations with gender, depression, and recovery expectations; [Bol i funkcionalna onesposobljenost posle lumbalne mikrodiskektomije i njihova povezanost sa polom, depresijom i očekivanjima oporavka]

Abstract

Background/Aim. Among the various factors that can influ-ence continued postoperative back pain and/or leg pain, and functional disability after lumbar microdiscectomy are gender, depression, and pessimism. The aim of this study was to de-termine the correlations between these factors. Methods. The research was conducted after microdiscectomy on 198 patients (95 men and 103 women), with a mean age of 50.20 ± 10.26 years. The following questionnaires were used for examina-tions: for assessment of pain and its intensity and character - PainDETECT Test; for functional disability - Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire; for the presence and de-gree of depression - Beck Depression Inventory-II; and ques-tionnaire for the assessment of personal expectations (pessi-mistic/optimistic) about the treatment results. These assess-ments were carried out after microdiscectomy - just before rehabilitation treatment, one month later, and then 3 and 6 months after a microdiscectomy. Results. Depression (p < 0.01) and pessimism (p < 0.01) had significant negative influences on the pain and functional disability. The subjective sensation of pain was significantly higher in women than in men (p < 0.01), while men had a greater degree of functional disability (p < 0.01) than women. Conclusion. Pain and func-tional disability of the patients after lumbar microdiscectomy are significantly interconnected with gender, depression, and pessimism. The sensation of pain was higher in women, while men had a greater degree of functional disability. Globally, the intensity of pain and functional disability were significantly greater in patients with a higher degree of depression and pes-simism, and, by registering mentioned factors, it is possible to predict the postoperative results. © 2022 Inst. Sci. inf., Univ. Defence in Belgrade. All rights reserved.