Alberta, Canada-based University of Calgary researchers developed a clinical prediction scale to determine which patients were likely to experience inadequate pain control after spine surgery, according to a study in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine.
Medical Xpress reported on the study, which can be used by spine surgeons to ensure patients receive appropriate education and individualized care preoperatively.
Researchers reviewed data from 1,300 patients in the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network registry from Aug. 28, 2014, to Oct. 4, 2017. Researchers split the patients into two cohorts. One cohort had 910 patients, who were used to develop the prediction score model, and the other had 390 patients to validate the model.
Seven elements predicted poor pain control: age, gender, higher preoperative neck or back pain scores, opioid use, past spine surgery, past fusion surgery, and depression. Scoring those elements helped predict which patients suffered from poor pain control.
Read the entire findings here.