ReviewBrain & spine2022
Smoking and degenerative spinal disease: A systematic review.
Review in Brain & spine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Causal links between multi-domain risk factors and intervertebral disc degeneration: a systematic review and meta-analysis of Mendelian randomization studies.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Pooled it
- A Comparison of Cigarette Smoking Effects on Intervertebral Disc Cell Metabolism in a Rat Tissue Model.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- Spine age derived from DXA vertebral fracture assessment images predicts incident fractures and mortality: the Manitoba Bone Mineral Density Registry.Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research · 2026Article
- Immunohistochemical analysis to detect a molecular signature in intervertebral disc degeneration.Histochemistry and cell biology · 2025Article
- Advancing Precision Medicine in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Long-Term and Heavy Smoking as a Risk Factor for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: Evidence from a Large-Scale, Nationwide Population-Based Cohort.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Effect of Long-Term Smoking on Cervical Disc Degeneration: A Retrospective Study.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Article
- Clinical Efficacy and Risks of Intradiscal Orthobiological Injections: A Narrative Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- Preoperative Health Status and Clinical Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life Improvement After Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Surgery: A Longitudinal Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Endplate remodeling: a key indicator of cigarette smoke exposure-induced intervertebral disc degeneration in a male rat model.JBMR plus · 2025Article
- Changes in the Expression Profile of Growth-Associated Protein 43 in Degenerative Lumbosacral Stenosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Global burden of low back pain attributable to smoking in 204 countries and territories in 1990-2021.Frontiers in public health · 2025Observational
- Article
- CILP-2 expression in the intervertebral discs of patients with lumbar radiculopathy.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- The Role of the Vascular System in Degenerative Diseases: Mechanisms and Implications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Intervertebral disc degeneration-Current therapeutic options and challenges.Frontiers in public health · 2023Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Smoking is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and is responsible for the death of more than 8 million people per year globally. Through a systematic literature review, we aim to review the harmful effects of tobacco smoking on degenerative spinal diseases (DSD). DSD is a debilitating disease and there is a need to identify if smoking can be an attributable contender for the occurrence of this disease, as it can open up avenues for therapeutic options. Sources such as PubMed and Embase were used to review literature, maintaining tobacco smoking and spinal diseases as inclusion factors, excluding any article that did not explore this relationship. Risk of bias was assessed using analysis of results, sample size and methods and limitations. Upon review of the literature, tobacco smoking was found to be a major risk factor for the occurrence of DSDs, particularly lumbar spinal diseases. Smokers also experienced a greater need for surgery and greater postoperative wound healing complications, increased pain perception, delay in recovery and decreased satisfaction after receiving surgery. These effects were noted along the entire spine. Many mechanisms of action have been identified in the literature that provide plausible pictures of how smoking leads to spinal degeneration, exploring possible primary targets which can open up opportunities to develop potential therapeutic agents. More studies on cervical and thoracic spinal degeneration would be beneficial in identifying the effect of nicotine on these spinal levels. Some limitations included insufficient sample size, inconclusive evidence and lack of sufficient repeat studies. However, there appears to be a sufficient amount of research on smoking directly contributing to lumbar spinal pathology.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.