Patient and Surgeon Perceptions Regarding Microdiscectomy Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Social Media Posts

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Figure 1
Examples of microdiscectomy-related social media content created by the authors of the present study to illustrate the types of posts included in the present study. (A) Patient expressing postoperative improvement in a positive tone. (B) Patient explaining complications following microdiscectomy surgery in a negative tone.
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Figure 2
Word cloud representation of the most common text shared in microdiscectomy-related posts.

Table 1

Summary microdiscectomy Instagram post content (N = 1500).

Shared Content Characteristics	n (%)
Type of media
Text	15 (1.0)
Video + photo + text	42 (2.8)
Video + text	257 (17.1)
Photo + text	1186 (79.1)
Original poster
Patient	1094 (72.9)
Family/friend of patient	11 (0.7)
Spine surgeon or group	353 (23.5)
Other health care professionals	6 (0.4)
Physical therapist	16 (1.1)
Hospital	10 (0.7)
Industry	10 (0.7)
Sex
Male	736 (49.1)
Female	745 (49.7)
Not applicable	19 (1.3)
Region
Northeast	64 (21.7)
Midwest	38 (7.0)
South	176 (27.8)
West	307 (20.6)
Non-United States	915 (23.0)
Phase of care
Preoperative	36 (4.3)
Postoperative	1012 (67.5)
Perioperative (<1 wk before operation)	55 (3.7)
Perioperative (<1 wk after operation)	277 (18.5)
Nonoperative	120 (8.0)
Depiction of post
Article/poster/advertisement	57 (3.8)
Clinic scene	117 (7.8)
Operating room scene	132 (8.8)
Imaging	109 (7.3)
Surgical incision site	26 (1.7)
Surgical technique	16 (1.1)
Daily activity	854 (56.9)
Work	17 (1.1)
Sport	65 (4.3)
Physical therapy	43 (2.9)
Medication	2 (0.1)
Other	62 (4.1)
Caption primary reference
Article/poster/advertisement	60 (4.0)
Clinic scene	46 (3.1)
Operating room scene	102 (6.8)
Imaging	95 (6.3)
Surgical site	20 (1.3)
Surgical technique	49 (3.3)
Return to daily activity	908 (60.5)
Return to work	16 (1.1)
Return to sport	66 (4.4)
Physical therapy	44 (2.9)
Medication	5 (0.3)
Other	89 (5.9)
Tone of post
Positive	1177 (78.5)
Negative	34 (2.3)
Neutral	289 (19.3)
Post satisfaction status with outcome
Satisfaction	690 (53.5)
Dissatisfaction	12 (0.9)

Table 2

Comparison of user demographics and tone of post.

Note: Data presented as n (%).
↵a Includes spine surgeon or group, nonspine surgeon physician, therapist, nurse, and physician assistant.
↵b Includes hospital, law group, and implant manufacturer.

Table 3

Analysis of post content by user.

User	Article, Poster, Advertisement	Clinic Scene	Imaging	Surgical Site	Operating Room Scene	Daily Activity	Work	Sport	Surgical Device/Technique	Physical Therapy	P Value
Patients	13 (1.3)	50 (4.8)	11 (1.1)	24 (2.3)	6 (0.6)	793 (76.9)	17 (1.6)	64 (6.2)	1 (0.1)	27 (2.6)	<0.0001
Medical professionals	36 (10.0)	61 (16.9)	95 (26.3)	0 (0.0)	126 (34.9)	16 (4.4)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	13 (3.6)	14 (3.9)
Other	7 (28.0)	2 (8.0)	1 (4.0)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	12 (48.0)	0 (0.0)	1 (4.0)	1 (4.0)	1 (4.0)

Table 4

Univariate and multivariate subanalysis of patient posts with positive tone.^{^a}

↵a Positive tone vs nonpositive tone.
↵b Male vs female sex.
↵c Postoperative vs nonpostoperative.
↵d Lifestyle (daily activity, sport, and work) vs medical (article/poster/advertisement, imaging, incision, clinic scene, operating room scene, and medication).