Participating in a short series of phone conversations with trained counselors can substantially boost recovery and reduce pain in patients after spinal surgery, according to a study published online ahead of print March 28 in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
The phone calls were designed to enhance standard pre- and post-operative care by reinforcing the value of continuing with physical therapy and back-strengthening exercise regimens.
“Phone counseling appears to be an easy, low-cost strategy that yields meaningful results by improving patient engagement in physical therapy and at-home exercise programs that are so vital for their recovery,” said lead study author Richard Skolasky Jr., ScD, Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
Richard Skolasky Jr., ScD
The study included 122 patients ages 46 to 72, who underwent surgery at Johns Hopkins University between 2009 and 2012 to correct spinal stenosis. Each patient was assigned either home exercise programs or physical therapy to help accelerate their recovery time. About half of the patients also received a series of phone counseling sessions from a trained spinal surgery counselor to discuss the importance of exercise in their recovery. The first and most detailed phone session took place a few weeks before the patients had their surgeries. Two follow-up sessions occurred at 6 weeks and at 3 months after the operation was performed.
The study found that patients who received phone calls participated in physical therapy and home exercise at higher rates, and had less pain and less disability 6 months after their surgery, compared with the standard-approach group. Six months after surgery, 74% of patients who received phone counseling experienced significant improvements on standard measures of physical functioning and self-reported measures of pain, compared with 41% of people who did not receive phone calls.
“Modern orthopedic science has made great strides in surgical techniques to correct spinal deformities and achieved significant progress in developing physical therapies that boost the benefits of surgery, but we have not been all that good at motivating and engaging patients to partake in such post-surgical recovery programs,” said co-investigator Stephen Wegener, PhD, Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University.
“The findings of our research suggest we may have found a way to add that missing ingredient that draws patients to be more active participants in their physical rehabilitation and recovery,” stated Dr. Wegener.