Adolescents' Experiences of Scoliosis Surgery and the Trajectory of Self-Reported Pain

Abstract

Scoliosis surgery for adolescents is a major surgery with a difficult recovery. In this study, a mixed-methods design was used to broaden the scope of adolescents' experiences of surgery for idiopathic scoliosis and the trajectory of self-reported pain during the hospital stay and through the first 6 months of recovery at home. Self-reports of pain, diaries, and interviews were analyzed separately. The results were then integrated with each other. The trajectory of self-reported pain varied hugely between individuals. Adolescents experienced physical suffering and struggled to not be overwhelmed. The adolescents described the environmental and supportive factors that enabled them to cope and how they hovered between suffering and control as they strived toward normality. This study highlights areas of potential improvement in perioperative scoliosis care in terms of nursing support and pain management.

Neuman Systems Model in perioperative nursing care for adolescents with juvenile idiopathic scoliosis

“…Complications related to anxiety, pain and the risk of neurological injury were the most recurrent, being also reported in other studies with adolescents in perioperative situation (4,18,19) . As stressors, preoperative preparation, information made available, fear of loss of autonomy, withdrawal from their environment, interruption in the frequency of teaching activities, as well as impediment to perform sports activities were identified.…”

A systematic scoping review and textual narrative synthesis of the qualitative evidence related to adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

“…This section reflects the final stage described by Levac et al (2010) of analysing, synthesising and interpreting results. Fifteen studies were included in this review; these were conducted in Canada (MacCulloch et al, 2009), China (Du et al, 2016), Greece (Sapountzi-Krepia et al, 2006), Hong Kong (Law et al, 2017), Poland (Grantham et al, 2019), South Africa (Naidu & Shabangu., 2015), Spain (Carrasco & Ruiz, 2016), Sweden (Rullander et al, 2013;Rullander et al, 2017), Turkey (Bilik et al, 2018), United Kingdom (Honeyman & Davison., 2016), and the United States of America (Donnelly et al, 2004;Klieber & Adamek., 2012;Merenda et al, 2011;Salisbury & LaMontagne., 2007). Eleven studies were qualitative (Bilik et al, 2018;7 Carrasco & Ruiz, 2016;Donnelly et al, 2004;Grantham et al, 2019;Honeyman & Davison., 2016;Kleiber & Adamek., 2012;Law et al, 2017;MacCulloch et al, 2009;Naidu & Shabangu., 2015;Rullander et al, 2013;Sapountzi-Krepia et al, 2006); four were mixed methods (Du et al, 2016;Merenda et al, 2011;Rullander et al, 2017;Salisbury & LaMontagne., 2007) from which we extracted the qualitative data.…”

“…Fifteen studies were included in this review; these were conducted in Canada (MacCulloch et al, 2009), China (Du et al, 2016), Greece (Sapountzi-Krepia et al, 2006), Hong Kong (Law et al, 2017), Poland (Grantham et al, 2019), South Africa (Naidu & Shabangu., 2015), Spain (Carrasco & Ruiz, 2016), Sweden (Rullander et al, 2013;Rullander et al, 2017), Turkey (Bilik et al, 2018), United Kingdom (Honeyman & Davison., 2016), and the United States of America (Donnelly et al, 2004;Klieber & Adamek., 2012;Merenda et al, 2011;Salisbury & LaMontagne., 2007). Eleven studies were qualitative (Bilik et al, 2018;7 Carrasco & Ruiz, 2016;Donnelly et al, 2004;Grantham et al, 2019;Honeyman & Davison., 2016;Kleiber & Adamek., 2012;Law et al, 2017;MacCulloch et al, 2009;Naidu & Shabangu., 2015;Rullander et al, 2013;Sapountzi-Krepia et al, 2006); four were mixed methods (Du et al, 2016;Merenda et al, 2011;Rullander et al, 2017;Salisbury & LaMontagne., 2007) from which we extracted the qualitative data. Studies were heterogenous, drawing on a number of qualitative methodological traditions; five were explicit about the qualitative design, using hermeneutic/interpretive phenomenology (Carrasco & Ruiz, 2016;Honeyman & Davison., 2016), auto-ethnography (Grantham et al, 2019), grounded theory (Law et al, 2017) and focus group methodology (MacCulloch et al, 2009); the remaining studies stated the...…”

“…The majority of the studies included in this review explored experiences of treatment, both bracing (Donnelly et al, 2004;Law et al, 2017;Sapountzi-Krepia et al, 2006) and surgery (Bilik et al 2018;Carrasco & Ruiz, 2016;Donnelly et al, 2004;Honeyman and Davison., 2016;MacCulloch et al, 2009;Rullander et al, 2013;Rullander et al, 2017).…”

“…Across the seven studies exploring experiences of surgery (Bilik et al 2018;Carrasco & Ruiz., 2016;Donnelly et al, 2004;Honeyman and Davison., 2016;MacCulloch et al, 2009;Rullander et al, 2013;Rullander et al, 2017) several issues stand out. All studies were conducted before or within a year of surgery except for Rullander et al (2017) where the follow-up period was two years from the date of surgery.…”