Would it be harmful to lie about not smoking to your anesthesiologist before sur!
Question:
Would it be harmful to lie about not smoking to your anesthesiologist before surgery? If so, why?
Additional Details
1 week ago
I know the health risks of smoking and I'm not here for a lecture. What I don't know is if there are any risks involved when under anesthesia and what those risks would be.
Answers:
Very harmful. You could die!
EFFECT OF SMOKING
Smoking does two things in terms of the cardiovascular system that anesthesiologists area concerned about. First, smoking increases the amount of carbon monoxide attached to hemoglobin in the blood. This has the effect of decreasing oxygen supply. Carbon monoxide also makes the heart pump more poorly, also decreasing the amount of oxygen that is delivered to the body. Second, nicotine increases the amount of oxygen that the body needs. So, oxygen supply is being compromised at the same time that more oxygen is being utilized.
Smoking obviously also affects the lungs. Among other thigns, smoking causes an increase in the amount of mucus secreted while at the same time decreasing the ability of the lungs to clear these secretions. In addition, smoking causes the small airways in the lungs to be narrowed and more prone to collapse. The end result of these effects are an increased susceptibility to infection, chronic cough and increased chance of pulmonary complications. Lastly, smokers also have increased sensitivity to stimuli and increased bronchial reactivity, increasing the chance for bronchospasm and other life threatening pulmonary processes.
This is not just theory. There have been multiple studies confirming that smoking increases the incidence of pulmonary complications after an anesthetic as much as six times. Smoking has been shown to be an independent risk factor for complications ranging from complications of lung function to wound healing to cardiovascular events such as heart attack.