Effect of Comprehensive Nursing on Postoperative Complications and Recovery of Elderly Patients Undergoing Prone-Position Lumbar Spine Surgery.

AIM: This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the effects of comprehensive nursing care on postoperative complications and clinical outcomes in elderly patients undergoing prone lumbar spine surgery.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted between July 2020 and July 2025, including 130 elderly patients undergoing prone lumbar spine surgery at Taihe County People's Hospital. Based on the nursing model, the patients included were classified into a control group (conventional care, n = 71) and an observation group (comprehensive care, n = 59). Evaluation criteria included preoperative anxiety and depression, clinical outcomes (time to first in-bed activity, time to first out-of-bed activity, and average length of hospital stay), perioperative hypothermia classification (mild/moderate/severe), incidence of perioperative shivering, postoperative infection rate, postoperative postural nerve damage, and incidence of pressure injuries 12 hours, 24 hours, and 48 hours after surgery.

RESULTS

There were no statistically significant differences in the distribution of depression and anxiety scores and severity between the observation group and the control group before the intervention. After the intervention, the depression and anxiety levels in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05), and the severity distribution was significantly better in the observation group than in the control group (p < 0.05). Time to first in-bed activity, time to first out-of-bed activity, and average length of hospital stay were significantly shorter in the observation group than in the control group (p < 0.001). The incidence rates of mild, moderate, and severe hypothermia were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group (13.56%, 5.08%, and 1.69% vs 23.94%, 14.08%, and 11.27%, p < 0.05). The incidence of perioperative shivering was significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group (15.25% vs 33.81%, p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative postural nerve damage between the two groups. The postoperative infection rate in the observation group was 5.08%, which was significantly lower than the 16.90% in the control group. Furthermore, the incidence rates of pressure injuries in the observation group 12 hours, 24 hours, and 48 hours after surgery were significantly lower than those in the control group (0%, 3.39%, and 10.17% vs 2.82%, 18.31%, and 29.58%, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In this retrospective cohort, the implementation of comprehensive nursing significantly improved psychological status, reduced the incidence of perioperative hypothermia and other complications, and accelerated postoperative recovery in elderly patients undergoing prone lumbar spine surgery.