The impact of Tobacco use on Anesthesia

Smoking has many bad effects on the human body  there are more than 4500 chemicals in cigarette smoke, and the majority of these have detrimental effects on human body systems, and  this directly has effect on the anesthesia procedure.

The smoker’s heart and lungs don’t work as well as they should. The smokers may have breathing problems during or after surgery, and they are at greater risk of developing pneumonia. The smokers are also much more likely to need a ventilator(a machine that breathes for him/her), after surgery. additionally, smoking reduces blood flow, which slows healing, so their surgical incision is more likely to become infected.  Also because smoking is a major cause of heart disease, your chances of suffering a heart attack during or after surgery increase. As a result, it is very important to stop smoking before surgery at least a week or some days before it and preoperative assessment clinic provides an opportunity to discuss and encourage smoking cessation.