• Phillip Grisdela, Zorica Buser, Anthony D'Oro, Permsak Paholpak, John C Liu, and Jeffrey C Wang.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, Elaine Stevely Hoffman Medical Research Center, University of Southern California, 2011 Zonal Ave., HMR 710, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.
• Eur Spine J. 2017 Sep 1; 26 (9): 2386-2392.

PurposeThis study defined the incidence and trends of surgeries performed for patients with cervical disc degeneration with and without tobacco use disorder (TUD).MethodsThis study utilized the Humana Inc. database between 2007 and 2013 to identify patients with cervical disc degeneration with or without myelopathy. International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision (ICD-9) and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes determined the initial diagnosis of disc degeneration, myelopathy status and TUD, whether patients received surgery, and TUD status at surgery.ResultsThe prevalence of disc degeneration with myelopathy increased by 32.8% between 2007 and 2013, while disc disease with myelopathy and TUD increased by 91.6%. For patients without myelopathy, the prevalence of disc degeneration alone increased by 65.4%, and disc degeneration with myelopathy increased by 148.7%. Of myelopathy patients, 1717 (6.4%) had TUD and 1024 (59.6%) received surgery, compared to 6508 patients without TUD (26.1%). For patients without myelopathy, 11,337 (3.5%) had TUD and 787 (6.9%) underwent surgery, compared to 9716 patients (3%) without TUD. Of surgical patients, 781 (76.3%) with myelopathy and TUD still had a TUD diagnosis at surgery, and 542 (68.9%) of patients without myelopathy still had a TUD diagnosis at surgery.ConclusionsThe prevalence of degenerative disc disease and TUD has increased more than disc disease alone. Patients with TUD were more likely to get surgery, and to have surgeries earlier than patients without TUD. Patients with TUD at the time of the diagnosis of their disc degeneration likely still had a TUD diagnosis at the time of surgery.

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