Effects of Smoking
It can save your life!! Remember you will be inhaling an aesthetic gas that will have a negative affect on your lungs, by adding the residue of cigarette smoke you are creating double trouble.
Those who smoked during the last 24 hours before surgery with general anaesthesia were having episodes of inadequate oxygen supply to the heart 20 times more than those who were non-smokers, or ex-smokers.
The lack of oxygen leads to heart irritability which can trigger a premature beats that can be fatal …got your attention now?
The problem is that smoking reduces the amount of oxygen available to the cell for healing. it happens when nicotine makes the small blood vessels shrink, the amount of haemoglobin available to move oxygen around the body and by interfering with the special chemicals that allow the release of oxygen to the cells reduces.
Bones are especially sensitive because their blood supply is a micro environment and there will be delayed healing of not only bone but also ligaments and tendons. There is evidence that smoking in those around you – second hand smoke – may also delay healing or cause problems.
Smokers who undergo surgery suffer complications, such as wound infections and poorly healing wounds, more often than non-smokers.
The coughing post op can not only be painful but can disrupt the suture repair and lead to return to operating room.
Research has shown that the risk of complications is reduced if the patient stops smoking four weeks ahead of the operationMost doctors prefer that their patients would stop smoking for several weeks before surgery.
Unfortunately, the use of nicotine gum is helpless around the time of surgery. the nicotine can interfere with healing in the same way as nicotine in cigarettes.
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Tags: effects of smoking, no smoking before surgery, smoking before surgery, smoking facts
this entry was posted on Friday, June 4th, 2010 at 12:30 am and is filed under Orthopedic Tip of the Day. you can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. you can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.