Seattle-based University of Washington researchers examined the American College of Surgeons' new quality improvement program checklist's impact on the smoking rate of patients undergoing cervical and lumbar spine procedures, according to Medical Xpress.
The researchers reported their findings at the 2017 ACS Quality and Safety Conference in New York City, from July 21 to 24. The study focused on the impact of leveraging the 'Strong for Surgery' pre-surgical health optimization program. Researchers studied about 24,000 patients undergoing cervical or lumbar fusions at 18 hospitals in Washington between 2011 and 2016.
Here are five insights:
1. University of Washington introduced the 'Strong for Surgery' pre-surgical health optimization program in 2012. The ACS picked up the program in 2016 and began promoting it on a national scale.
2. The program involves risk factor screening at preoperative visits. For those patients flagged as smokers, providers will recommend smoking cessation programs.
3. Lead author David Flum, MD, noted encouraging spine surgery patients to stop smoking is a great opportunity to improve outcomes. Those who smoke are two to three times more likely to have a fusion failure, suffer from continued pain and dysfunction or undergo a reoperation.
4. Researchers found 36 percent of the patients smoked in 2011 compared to 12 percent in 2016. Smoking cessation counseling jumped to 42 percent in 2016, up from 6.14 percent in 2011.
5. Dr. Flum commented: "Strong for Surgery is a complex intervention and there are several factors that had an influence on cigarette smoking rates," according to Medical Xpress.