Background

To date, there is limited data on the association of active smoking and 30-day wound events following inguinal hernia repair (IHR) with mesh. We aimed to determine if active smoking at the time of IHR with mesh was associated with worse 30-days wound events and additional morbidity outcomes using the Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative (ACHQC) database.

Methods

All adult patients undergoing elective, IHR with mesh who had 30-day follow-up data available were identified within the ACHQC database. Smokers were defined as having used nicotine within the 30 days prior to surgery. A 1:1 propensity score matched analysis was performed comparing smokers to non-smokers, controlling for factors previously shown to be associated with postoperative wound events. The effect of smoking on 30-day wound events and additional morbidity outcomes following IHR with mesh was investigated using Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test for categorical data and Wilcoxon ranked test for continuous data.

Results

A total of 17,543 patients met inclusion criteria; 1855 (11%) were active smokers at the time of minimally invasive IHR with mesh. A total of 3694 patients were used for the matched analysis. There were no statistically significant differences between the non-smokers and smokers with respect to the incidence of surgical site infection (p = 0.10), surgical site occurrences (p = 0.22), or surgical site occurrences requiring procedural intervention (p = 0.64). Non-smokers were significantly more likely to be readmitted to the hospital and had significantly less improvement in all pain domains following IHR with mesh.

Conclusions

Active smoking at the time of IHR with mesh is not associated with worse 30-day wound or additional morbidity and mortality outcomes. Based on these results, preoperative smoking cessation for all patients undergoing IHR may not reduce 30-day morbidity.