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Smoking cessation not linked with postoperative complications
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A meta-analysis of studies comparing patients who stopped smoking shortly before surgery with those who continued found no association between quitting and an increased or decreased risk of postoperative complications, according to a press release from the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Katie Myers, MSc, and colleagues from Queen Mary, University of London, and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry conducted the meta-analysis of nine studies that examined smokers and those who quit 8 weeks or less prior to surgery. The findings appear online and are scheduled for the July 11 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
“Only one of the nine included studies reported a significant result, and this was in favor of recent abstainers,” the researchers wrote. “When all nine studies are combined, there is no beneficial or detrimental effect of quitting within 8 weeks before surgery compared with continued smoking.” However, they noted that their findings should be interpreted with caution, according to the press release.
“Future studies should focus on patients with a very short duration of abstinence and should use biochemical validation of self-reported abstinence. In the meantime, until some new evidence of harm emerges, firm advice to stop smoking and an offer of smoking cessation treatment to those who need it can be provided to pre-surgical patients at any time,” the authors concluded.
References:
- Myers K, et al. Arch Intern Med. 2011. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.97.
- www. jama.ama-assn.org
Disclosure: Co-authors Hajek and McRobbie have received research funds from and provide consultancies to the following manufacturers of smoking cessation medications: Glaxo SmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer Global, and Johnson & Johnson.
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