Yes, Quitting Before Surgery Is a Good Idea

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Contrary to previous paradoxical findings, quitting smoking in the weeks before chest surgery does not increase the likelihood of suffering complications, according to a new report.

An earlier study found that postoperative lung complications were more common among patients who quit smoking within 4 weeks before surgery. In fact, "recommendations have been made that surgery should be delayed for 8 weeks after smoking cessation," according to the article in the medical journal Chest.

This counter-intuitive situation prompted Dr. Dorothy A. White of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues to investigate the timing of smoking cessation in 300 cancer patients who underwent surgical removal of a lung.

Rates of pneumonia and other lung complication differed significantly between smokers (19 percent) and nonsmokers (8 percent), the team reports, but did not differ among ongoing smokers, past quitters, and recent quitters.

"There is no risk of increased postoperative pulmonary complications by stopping smoking even for a few days before surgery," White told Reuters Health. "Smoking cessation is beneficial for long term health and for reducing the risk of postoperative infections."

Among the 227 smokers in the study, the researchers note, those who smoked heavily -- more than the equivalent of a pack a day for 60 years, or 2 packs a day for 30 years -- were at especially high risk of suffering post-op lung complications.

Patients should discuss quitting with their doctor on the first visit, White advised, "since the longer patients abstain before surgery, the more beneficial the effect."

SOURCE: Chest, June 2005.