Smoking as a Risk Factor for Readmission in Arthroscopic Surgery: A Propensity Matched Analysis

The objective of this study was to perform a propensity matched analysis exploring smoking as a risk factor for readmission following hip, knee and shoulder arthroscopy. Patients undergoing knee, shoulder or hip arthroscopy between 2006-2016 were identified in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP). Patient's smoking was analyzed for its effect on 30-day readmission using multivariate regression adjusting for demographics and comorbidities. A propensity matched analysis control identified 19,732 non-smokers to serve as the control group. The readmission rate for the non-smoking cohort was 0.9% and 1.3% in the smoking group (p = 0.01). In a multivariate analysis adjusting for baseline characteristics and medical comorbidities, smoking status was associated with increased risk readmission (Odds Ratio: 1.37 [95% Confidence Interval: 1.133-1.657] p = 0.0012). This study suggests that smoking increases chances of readmission in all arthroscopic surgery. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 28(4):272-276, 2019).