Pre-Surgical Spine Evaluation

Pre-Surgical Spine Evaluation

spinal-surgerySpinal surgery can consists of less invasive procedures, such as a micro discectomy, to a multi-level fusion.  A psychological spine evaluation could assist in helping determine how well a person would tolerate an invasive spine surgery. There are also certain psychological factors that could limit a person’s successfulness with spine surgery that may need to be treated prior to and/or after surgery.

What to Expect at Your Evaluation

For your pre-surgical spine evaluation,  please bring your ID and insurance card with you. You will meet with a health psychologist for a full clinic interview to go over your pain, medical history, and how the pain is affecting your life. You will also complete a series of psychological tests. These are paper pencil tests in our office and there is no time limit. You may be mailed a packet of these tests prior to your appointment. If you could complete this packet and bring it to your evaluation, it would shorten the length of your appointment. There are other tests that will have to be completed in the office. Some of these tests have general psychological questions that may seem unusual. Please just answer them to your best ability. Please bring your reading glasses. If you have difficulty reading, we have some of tests on audio, or you could have a friend or family member assist you with the completion of the test.

The health psychologist will take the information from talking to you, your psychological testing, and your medical records to compile a psychological pre-surgical pain evaluation. This will include treatment recommendations that will be given to your referring physician.