Smoking Is an Independent Risk Factor of Reoperation Due to Recurrent Lumbar Disc Herniation

Abstract

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Objectives: The purpose of the present study is to determine if age, gender, smoking status, and body mass index (BMI) are significant risk factors of symptomatic recurrent lumbar disc herniation (rLDH) leading to reoperation. Methods: A cohort of 1378 consecutive patients who underwent discectomy for LDH from June 2010 to January 2015 at our institution were included. Patients who underwent reoperation due to rLDH prior to August 2015 were identified. Data on reoperations, age, gender, smoking status, and BMI were collected from our database. A comparison of age, gender, smoking status, and BMI was made between the controls (non-rLDH) and the cases (rLDH group). Binary logistic regression was performed to determine whether age, gender, smoking status, and BMI were independent risk factors for rLDH. Results: Patients in the non-rLDH group (48.2 years) were older than the rLDH group (44.7 years; P =.013). Gender distribution (54.8% vs 48.5% males; P =.222) and BMI (26.6 vs 26.6; P =.458) were similar between the 2 groups. A significantly higher prevalence of smokers was found in the rLDH group (33.1% vs 51.5%; P