Relationship of smoking with respiratory complications in surgical patients

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the occurrence of postoperative respiratory complications and smoking. Methods and Materials: A retrospective study was conducted on 100 cases who underwent surgical procedures in the General Surgery Department between 2023 and 2024. The SPSS program was used for statistical analysis. Results: The percentage of males was 49%, while females were 51%. The average age of the patients was 48.37 ± 16.67 years. Of the patients, 50% were smokers and 50% were non-smokers. The average number of packs consumed by smokers was 36.54 ± 38.12 packs/year. A total of 3 cases of complications occurred among smokers and 2 cases among non-smokers. The complications included oxygen desaturation, excessive sputum production, postoperative respiratory infection, pleural effusion, pulmonary embolism, cough, bronchospasm, and the average hospital stay duration after the complication was 3.1 ± 0.74 days. Conclusion: A positive correlation was found between smoking and postoperative complications (P<0.05). Our results indicate that the amount of cigarettes consumed is associated with the rate of postoperative complications.