Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Tobacco Use as a Risk Factor for Prosthetic Joint Infection After Total Hip Replacement

BACKGROUND: A prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is one of the possible complications after total hip arthroplasty (THA). Several studies, but not all, have reported smoking as a risk factor of PJIs in orthopaedic surgery. This study summarizes the most recent evidence using a systematic review of whether tobacco use (not only tobacco smoking) is a risk factor in developing PJIs, specifically after THA. METHODS: Ovid Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were searched from inception to July 2019 to identify case-control studies that examined the PJI risk in tobacco users and tobacco nonusers undergoing THA. Publication bias was also assessed through funnel plots. RESULTS: Searches identified 2689 articles, and 10 of these, involving a total of 20,640 patients, met the inclusion criteria. The overall odds ratio (pooled odds ratio) to develop either a superficial infection, a deep infection, or an infection requiring revision surgery for tobacco users vs nonusers was 1.54 (95% confidence interval: 1.25-1.91) when a fixed-effect model was used and 1.56 (95% confidence interval: 1.10-2.21) when a random-effect model was used. No publication bias was observed among the identified studies. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the study indicated that tobacco use is associated with a higher risk of PJIs in patients undergoing THA.