Of the 4,555 patients in the Swedish Spine Register who were operated on for central lumbar stenosis, 758 were listed as current smokers at the time of surgery. Smokers had an inferior health-related Quality of Life baseline and reported more regular use of analgesics.
Smokers were also less likely to experience significant improvement in walking ability and more likely to report dissatisfaction at the two-year follow-up after surgery.
Read the abstract about smokers receiving spine surgery.
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