Each year, about 70 million Americans -- including more than 2 million children and teenagers -- have surgery. For most of these people, the operation will go well. Some people, however, will have problems -- such as complications from the anesthetic or poor healing after the operation. If you smoke, you are more likely than a nonsmoker to have problems when you have surgery. As a result, you may feel worse than a nonsmoker would, and it may take you longer to get back to normal after your operation.
quitting
Does It Help to Quit Smoking Before Surgery?
Because smoking can cause problems with surgery, smokers sometimes wonder whether it would be worthwhile to quit smoking before having an operation. The answer to this question is yes. But unfortunately, quitting smoking just a few days before an operation doesn't help much. It takes six months after a person quits smoking before the risk of problems during surgery returns to normal. Many operations can't be postponed for that long. So the best way to avoid smoking-related problems during surgery is never to start smoking at all.
