Study design: A retrospective cohort study of a prospectively collected surgical database.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of smoking on 30-day morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing surgery for adult spinal deformity (ASD).
Summary of background data: There is conflicting evidence regarding the impact of smoking on short-term outcomes after spinal fusion.
Methods: A retrospective review of the prospectively collected American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement database was performed for the years 2007 to 2013. Patients who underwent spinal fusion for ASD were identified. Thirty-day morbidity and mortality were compared between current smokers and nonsmokers. The independent effect of smoking was investigated via multivariate logistic regression analysis.
Results: A total of 1368 patients met inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Of the 1368 patients, 15.9% were smokers and 84.1% nonsmokers. The proportion of smokers who developed at least one complication was 9.7% versus 13.6% for nonsmokers (P = 0.119). Major complication rates (including 30-day mortality) were 6.5% for smokers and 8.4% for nonsmokers (P = 0.328). Current smoking status was not associated with increased odds of developing any complication [odds ratio (OR) 0.90; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.47-1.71; P = 0.752] or major complications (OR 1.32; 95% CI 0.64-2.70; P = 0.447) after multivariate analysis.
Conclusion: Smoking was not associated with higher 30-day complications or mortality after corrective surgery for ASD in this study. However, given the negative effects of smoking on overall health and spine surgery outcomes in the long term, smoking cessation before spinal fusion is still recommended.
Level of evidence: 3.