Will I be asked to stop smoking? If I continue to smoke, what happens?
Patients preparing for this surgery are encouraged to stop smoking at least one month before surgery. The hospital does not allow smoking so while you are hospitalized you will not be smoking and might as well quit before you arrive. Smoking increases the risk of lung problems after surgery, can reduce the rate of healing, increases the rates of infection, and interferes with blood supply to the healing tissues. The lack of good respiratory exchange is one of the notable reasons why surgeries are cancelled at the last moment because of the risk. Physicians also suggest that whenever possible you begin a walking routine prior to surgery to make sure you are comfortable doing so after surgery.
The most common complications reported within 30 days of operations for severe obesity were respiratory (1.89%). They were both major and minor. Minor complications such as atelectasis, hyperventilation, pleural effusion, pleuritis, and pneumonitis represented 1.57% of the complications. Major respiratory complications were pulmonary embolism and respiratory failure. Although these two major respiratory complications represented only 0.3% of all complications, they resulted in 50% of all deaths which occurred within 30 days of the operation.
Thirty-day complication information from IBSR Winter 2000-2001 Pooled Report 15(1).
Patient data were examined for hospital readmissions, subsequent procedures, re-operations and deaths following the primary operation for severe obesity in addition to operative complication information. Deaths reported within 30 days of the primary operation = 30 (0.3%). http://www.asbs.org/html/rationale/rationale.html
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