PS12 Guidelines on Smoking as Related to the Perioperative Period

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Tobacco use is a major global health problem and the single greatest preventable cause of death and disease in Australia and New Zealand. Smokers are at increased risk of perioperative respiratory, cardiac and wound related complications, and quitting smoking may reduce the risk of complications. ANZCA is committed to its role of health advocacy and recognises that the perioperative period represents a “teachable moment” when many smokers quit or attempt to quit smoking, sometimes permanently. The opportunity for clinicians to actively participate in this phase should be seized and patients instructed on the means available to them to quit smoking prior to their surgery.

PURPOSE AND SCOPE The purpose of these guidelines is to update anaesthetists and trainees with contemporaneous information about the effects of smoking in the perioperative period, including current state of preoperative cessation of smoking and the science supporting cessation. Although the information in this document may be of benefit to the community as a whole, it is intended to apply to clinicians with a view to advocating cessation of smoking and ensuring optimal timing for cessation.