• Matthew H Meade, Rajkishen Narayanan, Levi Buchan, Tiffany Bridges, Olivia A Opara, Parker L Brush, Yunsoo Lee, Abbey Glover, Julian Takagi-Stewart, Emily Ducaji, Mark F Kurd, Jose A Canseco, Alan S Hilibrand, Alexander R Vaccaro, Gregory D Schroeder, and Christopher K Kepler.
• Orthopaedic Surgery Department, Jefferson Health New Jersey, Stratford, New Jersey, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2024 Sep 1; 189: e1077e1082e1077-e1082.

IntroductionPatients' and surgeons' perceptions of cutaneous scarring can vary, causing unpleasant physical and psychological outcomes. This study aims to bridge the current scientific literature gap and understand the impact of patient-perceived scar cosmesis after anterior and posterior cervical spine surgery.MethodsRetrospective review of patients ≥18 years old who underwent anterior or posterior cervical spine surgery from 2017 to 2022 at a large, urban academic group. To select patients with adequate time for surgical scar maturation, only patients who were greater than 6 months postsurgery were included. The Scar Questionaire Survey (SCAR-Q) survey, a surgical scar assessment tool, was administered to patients to assess patient perceptions of scar symptomatology, appearance, and psychosocial impact. Scores range from 0 to 100, with 100 as the best outcome. An additional 5-item Likert scale question was administered to assess overall surgical satisfaction.ResultsAll 854 respondents who completed the survey were stratified into 2 groups "Unsatisfied vs. Satisfied." Patients who were "unsatisfied" with their surgery had the lowest outcome scores for SCAR-Q appearance, symptom, and psychosocial scores than those who were "Satisfied" (P < 0.001). Females had significantly "higher/more favorable" responses for SCAR-Q Appearance (77.5 vs. 82.8 P < 0.001) and Psychosocial (87.4 vs. 94.3 P < 0.001) scores compared to males. Regression analysis performed for each component score showed that increases in all 3 component scores were significant in patients in the satisfied group.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates that cervical spine surgery patients unsatisfied with their surgical outcome have lower scar-related scores, highlighting the impact of cosmetic closure and appearance.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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