Smoking and postoperative complications

In a press release[i] dated January 20, 2020[1], the World Health Organization (WHO) raised concerns about the relationship between smoking and the risk of complications after surgery. The risk of post-operative complications for smokers is indeed higher than for non-smokers. More specifically, the carbon monoxide and nicotine inhaled by smokers contribute to reducing the concentration of oxygen in the blood, causing lung damage that reduces oxygen supply, and disrupting the immune system. Nicotine and carbon monoxide therefore significantly increase the risk of post-operative cardiac and pulmonary problems, as well as the risk of infection and poor healing. However, a study conducted by the WHO and three other partners shows that four weeks after quitting smoking, vital organs are better irrigated and health improves by 19% each week. Consequently, the WHO recommended that States put in place the necessary means to raise awareness and support patients in weaning themselves off tobacco before surgery. On May 5, the British Journal of Surgery published a study conducted by Spanish researchers on the economic benefits of state-funded smoking cessation programs.[2], the benefits being understood as the costs saved by avoiding postoperative complications[3]. In the Spanish case studied using data from the National Health System, the smoking cessation rate increased by 21.7% during financial support. In addition, for each preoperative smoking cessation, the benefit was estimated at €503 per patient, representing €4.8 million per year. The annual return on investment was estimated at €28.7%. It therefore appears that the benefits of funding smoking cessation programs before surgery far outweigh the costs to the State and could well justify additional and more sustained efforts to prevent the risk of postoperative complications in smoking patients. ©Generation Without Tobacco

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[i] For more information, see the brief from January 24, 2020 on the subject "Not smoking four weeks before surgery reduces the risks": https://www.generationsanstabac.org/actualites/ne-pas-fumer-quatre-semaines-avant-la-chirurgie-reduit-les-risques/ [1] https://www.who.int/fr/news-room/detail/20-01-2020-smoking-greatly-increases-risk-of-complications-after-surgery [2] https://bjssjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bjs.11506 [3] https://scienmag.com/cost-benefit-analysis-of-funding-a-smoking-cessation-program-before-surgery/ ©DNF - For a Zero Tobacco World |