Introduction: Lumbar spine surgery is one of the most common procedures in older adults. Approximately 10-40% of patients, however, continue to experience significant pain, disability, and numbness post-operatively, leading to poorer quality of life. The purpose of this study is to understand the patient experience pre-and/or post-lumbar spine surgery to help to inform future recommendations for lower back pain.

Methods: Qualitative meta-ethnography. Pre-registered with OSF:10.17605/OSF.IO/UTZE6. A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, EmCare and CINAHL from inception to January 20^th, 2021.Peer-reviewed qualitative or mixed-method studies investigating the beliefs, perceptions, or experiences of adults (≥18 years old) pre-and/or post-lumbar spine surgery for degenerative concerns. The eMERGE meta-ethnography reporting guidelines werefollowed to create themes and subthemes from the original themes of the included studies. A quality appraisal was performed using the McMaster Quality Appraisal tool.

Results: 14 studies were included. Five themes emerged from the themes of the included studies separated into pre- from post- operative categories. Two themes emerged pre-operatively: (1) the influence of exercise on patients’ experiences and (2) the importance of education / the power of communication. Three post-operative themes included: (1) psychosocial coping, (2) redefining oneself post-operatively, and (3) experience with the healthcare system.

Discussion: Three key findings were established: the value of communication, the importance of using best practice in physiotherapy, and the impact of psychosocial factors on recovery. Healthcare providers should consider patients' unique level of health-literacy and engage in open communication to ensure the quantity and quality of provided information is being sufficiently tailored to each patient.