Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion and pneumonia: use of the VASQIP database

Background: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) may alleviate cervical radiculopathy and myelopathy, with risks including dysphagia, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, neurological injury, and post operative pneumonia (POP). The incidence of POP among non-veteran patients who underwent ACDF surgery was 0.45%. Military veterans may have higher overall complication rates after undergoing ACDF. We aimed to describe the incidence and risk factors of POP among military veterans undergoing ACDF. Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of the United States Veteran Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. We assessed the patients who underwent ACDF between January 2001 and December 2017. Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to identify the rates of POP and the factors that may increase POP risk. Results: Among the 18,468 patients, 195 (1.06%) experienced POP. Independent risk factors included male sex, chronic steroid use, preoperative sepsis, diabetes, poor overall health, inpatient surgery, and emergency surgery. Multilevel ACDF was associated with a higher POP rate (P<0.001). In the multivariate analysis, patients with a history of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were more than twice as likely to experience POP than those without severe COPD (P<0.001). An additional hour in surgery was associated with 16% higher odds of POP (P<0.001). Conclusions: The incidence of POP following ACDF is greater than the nonveteran population, which may be contributed by several factors including COPD, inpatient surgery and length of surgery. The identification of veterans as a high-risk population can potentially help guide decision making when ACDF is considered. Level of Evidence: III.