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STUDY DESIGN Retrospective study. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compared surgical site infection (SSI) rates between patients under lumbar discectomy with an operative microscope versus surgical loupes. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Lumbar decompressions for herniated disks or lumbar stenosis are common spine procedures. Some studies have raised the concern that drape contamination of the operative microscope may be an additional risk for SSIs. We hypothesize that the use of the operative microscope for lumbar decompression procedures does not increase infection rates. METHODS A retrospective cohort analysis was performed on patients undergoing lumbar spinal decompressions via microscopic assistance (MA) or loupe assistance (LA) by 2 orthopedic spine surgeons at a tertiary academic medical center. Patients treated from November, 2012 to October, 2016 were enrolled. Variables including age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking status, length of surgery, intraoperative complications, estimated blood loss, and postoperative SSIs within 30 days were collected. RESULTS A total of 225 patients were included in the study. Sixty-three patients underwent LA lumbar decompression, and 162 underwent MA lumbar decompression. There were 72 female individuals/90 male individuals in the MA group and 31 female individuals/33 male individuals in the LA group. The MA was significantly older 45.2 versus 40.4 in LA, P-value of 0.02 and had a significantly higher body mass index (30.64 vs. 27.79, P