Racial Disparities and Surgical Outcomes After Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Analysis 2015–2020

Background: Our objective was to assess the effect of race on outcomes in patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Methods: We identified 57,913 adult patients who underwent elective ACDF spine surgery from 2015 to 2020. Data were extracted from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) database. Demographics, comorbidities, perioperative course, and 30-day postoperative outcomes were stratified by race. Results: A total of 57,913 patients, white (n = 49,016), African American (AA; n = 7200), Native American (NA; n = 565), and Asian (n = 1132) underwent ACDF fusion surgery. AA patients had higher comorbidities, including diabetes (24.7%), dyspnea (5.9%), and hypertension (61.6%) compared with the other groups (P < 0.001). NA and AA were higher tobacco users, (33.1%) and (28.7%), respectively (P < 0.001). Most of the patients reported in this dataset had single-level surgeries. AAs had a longer average hospital stay (2.51±7.31 days) and operative time (144.13±82.26 min) (P < 0.001). Lower risk of superficial surgical site infection (adjusted odds ratio [OR_adj], 0.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22–0.77; P = 0.005) and greater risk of reintubation (OR_adj, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.25–2.17; P < 0.001), pulmonary embolism (OR_adj, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.27–2.79; P = 0.001), renal insufficiency (OR_adj, 3.15; 95% CI, 1.38–7.20; P = 0.006), and return to the operating room (OR_adj, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.18–1.65; P < 0.001 were reported in AAs compared with whites. NAs showed an increased risk of superficial surgical site infection compared with whites (OR_adj, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.05–6.36; P = 0.037). Conclusions: Racial disparities were found to independently affect rates of complications after surgery for ACDF.