Quitting smoking can help improve outcomes after major urologic surgery

American Urological AssociationMay 17 2015

Quitting smoking can lead to a significant improvement in outcomes after major urologic surgery. These new data and their impact on urologic surgery will be highlighted by study authors during a special press conference at the 110^th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA). Benjamin J. Davies, MD, associate professor of urology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, will moderate the session at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA on May 17, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. CT.

Despite having long-lasting negative health effects, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports more than 42 million American adults still smoke. The CDC also reports smokers die an average of ten years earlier than nonsmokers. To investigate the impact of smoking on perioperative outcomes in patients undergoing bladder (cystectomy), prostate (prostatectomy), and renal/kidney (nephrectomy) surgery, researchers from the Henry Ford Health System's Vattikuti Urology Institute in Detroit, MI, analyzed data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database as well as results from a patient self-reported smoking status. Study findings were based on records from 9,014 patients who underwent one of the three urologic surgeries mentioned above between the years of 2005 – 2011. Patients were categorized as nonsmokers, former smokers or current smokers and evaluated on 30-day morbidity (complications, prolonged length of stay, re-intervention and re-admission) and mortality. The analysis found:

• Current smokers had significantly higher odds of pulmonary and kidney complications, and increased odds for length of stay following prostatectomy.
• Current smokers had increased odds for subsequent procedures following cystectomy, while previous smokers had increased odds of hospital re-admission.
• Former smokers, who had quit for at least a year, had similar outcomes to nonsmokers following prostatectomy.

"This research serves as a wake-up call to many smokers, and demonstrates that the sooner you quit, the sooner your risk factors for surgery complications and disease recurrence decrease," said Dr. Davies. "In fact, this research indicates that for longer-term ex-smokers, risks may be almost the same as if they had never smoked at all."