Recent years have witnessed a paradigm shift in the assessment of outcome in spine surgery, with patient-centred questionnaires replacing traditional surgeon-based assessments. The assessment of “complications” — loosely defined as new/unexpected problems arising as a result of surgery — has not enjoyed this same enlightened approach. Patients with lumbar degenerative disorders operated with the goal of pain relief, completed a questionnaire 1 year post-operatively enquiring about complications arising as a consequence of their operation. They rated the bothersomeness of any such complications on a 5-point adjectival scale. Global outcome of surgery and satisfaction were rated on 5-point Likert scales.Background
Methods
