Influence of smoking on spinal fusion after spondylodesis surgery: A comparative clinical study

Abstract

The results indicate that smoking adversely effects spinal fusion. Particularly re-operations caused by pseudarthrosis occur at a higher rate in smokers than in non-smokers.

Surgical and Clinical Results of Minimally Invasive Spinal Fusion Surgery in an Unselected Patient Cohort of a Spinal Care Unit

“…In the present study, the perioperative complication rates were within the range reported for MIS in the literature and were lower than those reported for patients undergoing open posterior lumbar spinal fusion surgeries. Previous studies have demonstrated that complication rates of MIS did not differ between younger and elderly patients and that the surgical success of MIS in terms of functional outcome did not differ between smokers and non‐smokers. Avila et al .…”

The Effect of Smoking on Spinal Fusion

“…39 Hermann et al showed that fusion success in nonsmokers is greater than smokers and that reoperation rates caused by pseudarthrosis were greater in smokers. 44 The nonunion results in smokers are not necessarily uniform across all lumbar fusion studies. Bydon et al obtained results that were consistent with the above findings for pseudarthrosis after 2-level posterolateral fusions, but not necessarily on single-level PLF.…”

Outcome Predictors of the Transforaminal Endoscopic Spine System Technique for Single-level Lumbar Disk Herniation

“…Multiple studies have also shown a negative effect of smoking on the outcomes of lumbar surgery. [27][28][29][30] In the multivariate analysis, however, smoking did not show any statistical significance, which could be due to our small sample size. Sex, body mass index, and history of alcohol abuse were not predictors in our study.…”