ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2007
The impact of surgical wait time on patient-based outcomes in posterior lumbar spinal surgery.
Article in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- Advanced practice physiotherapy for adults with spinal pain: a systematic review with meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2021Pooled it
- Multi-level posterior cervical-only fusion and instrumentation with versus without extension to C1: A short-term outcomes analysis using a large database.North American Spine Society journal · 2026Article
- Deep Learning-Based Identification of Surgical Candidacy for Cervical Spinal Cord Decompression.International journal of spine surgery · 2026Article
- Ethical aspects of waiting lists in neurosurgery.Acta neurochirurgica · 2026Review
- Patients and Advanced Practice Physiotherapists' Experiences and Perceptions in a Specialized Spine Model of Care: A Qualitative Study.Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2026Article
- Decompensation of degenerative lumbar stenosis: do patients need immediate surgery?European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- Altering physician referral practices is challenging, but not impossible: spine assessment clinic quality improvement study.BMJ open quality · 2025Article
- Prehabilitation for lumbar spinal stenosis: understanding mechanisms and contexts for enhanced engagement-a realist review.Age and ageing · 2025Review
- Letter to the Editor concerning "Real-time video communication during percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy is beneficial to postoperative recovery: a single-center retrospective study" by Z. Pan, et al. (Eur Spine J [2025]: doi: 10.1007/s00586-025-08777-1).European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- Out-of-hours emergent surgery for degenerative spinal disease in Canada: a retrospective cohort study from a national registry.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2024Article
- Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Surgery for Lumbar Disc Herniation: Comparison of a Universal and Multitier Health Care System.Global spine journal · 2023Article
- Cost consequence analysis of waiting for lumbar disc herniation surgery.Scientific reports · 2023Observational
- Feasibility and Assessment of a Machine Learning-Based Predictive Model of Outcome After Lumbar Decompression Surgery.Global spine journal · 2022Article
- Risk Factors Involved in the Early and Medium-Term Poor Outcomes of Percutaneous Endoscopic Transforaminal Discectomy: A Single-Center Experience.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Article
- It is not 'business as usual' for orthopaedic surgeons in May 2020- the Austrian-German-Swiss experience.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2020Review
- The association between waiting time and multidisciplinary pain treatment outcomes in patients with rheumatic conditions.BMC rheumatology · 2020Article
- The Effect of Symptom Duration on Outcomes After Fusion for Degenerative Spondylolisthesis.Global spine journal · 2019Article
- The operative treatment of shoulder pain in patients with a concurrent diagnosis of cervical spondylosis and shoulder dysfunction.Journal of spine surgery (Hong Kong) · 2019Article
- Quality of Life in Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Global spine journal · 2019Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A prospective observational study was conducted on patients undergoing posterior lumbar spine surgery for degenerative spinal disorders. The study purpose was to evaluate the effect of wait time to surgery on patient derived generic and disease specific functional outcome following surgery. A prolonged wait to surgery may adversely affect surgical outcome. Although there is literature on the effect of wait time to surgery in surgical fields such as oncology, cardiac, opthamologic, and total joint arthroplasty, little is known regarding the effect of wait time to surgery as it pertains to the spinal surgical population. Consecutive patients undergoing elective posterior lumbar spinal surgery for degenerative disorders were recruited. Short-Form 36 and Oswestry disability questionnaires were administered (pre-operatively, and at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year post-operatively). Patients completed a questionnaire regarding their experience with the wait time to surgery. The study cohort consisted of 70 patients with follow-up in 53/70 (76%). Time intervals from the onset of patient symptoms to initial consultation by family physician through investigations, spinal surgical consultation and surgery were quantified. Time intervals were compared to patient specific improvements in reported outcome following surgery using Cox Regression analysis. The effect of patient and surgical parameters on wait time was evaluated using the median time as a reference for those patients who had either a longer or shorter wait. Significant improvements in patient derived outcome were observed comparing post-operative to pre-operative baseline scores. The greatest improvements were observed in aspects relating to physical function and pain. A longer wait to surgery was associated with less improvement in outcome following surgery (SF-36 domains of BP, GH, RP, VT). A longer wait time to surgery negatively influences the results of posterior lumbar spinal surgery for degenerative conditions as quantified by patient derived functional outcome measures. The parameters of pain severity and physical aspects of function appear to be the most significantly affected.
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