Research clearly reveals that smoking can affect patients who undergo lumbar fusion surgery. How bad is the effect of smoking? How does smoking impact spinal fusion surgery? How can I go about successfully stopping smoking? We attempt to answer these questions in this article.
Effects of Smoking on Spinal Fusion Surgery
Smoking leads to a number of problems for patients who want to undergo spinal fusion. These problems are outlined below:
- The rate of successful fusion decreases significantly.
- There is less pain reduction in patients, regardless of whether the spinal fusion is successful.
- Functional rehabilitation is poorer after the surgery.
- The patient’s satisfaction with the surgery is lower.
All Nicotine Products impact Spinal Fusion
These findings indicate that stopping smoking before a spinal fusion can improve your chances of reducing pain and achieving a successful outcome. Not just cigarettes, but all types of nicotine products can impact spinal fusion surgery. Some popular products that contain nicotine are given below:
- Nicotine gum
- Nicotine patches
- Pipes
- Cigars
- Chewing tobacco
Nicotine-free Preparation for Spinal Fusion
Your surgeon may refuse to perform the fusion surgery if you haven’t quit smoking. This surgery requires plenty of healing. Therefore, the patient should be placed to be in the best possible healing position before the surgery. Many surgeons ask their patients to give a urine test before the surgery to ensure the absence of nicotine in the system. So, patients needs to stop using tobacco products before spinal fusion surgery.
When to Stop Smoking
All the clinical findings and research conclusively indicate that one should stop smoking before a spine fusion surgery. And, one should continue the habit of non-smoking after the procedure. Research also shows that:
- It is advisable to stop smoking about a month before the surgery. If you continue to smoke till the time of surgery, then you may not quit even after the procedure.
- The heavier you smoke before the surgery, the more difficult it will be to quit afterwards.
- The longer you abstain from smoking before the procedure, the greater are the chances that you will continue to abstain from smoking after surgery.
Best Results Achieved in Non-smokers
The best surgery outcomes, including pain relief are obtained in non-smokers and those who have successfully stopped smoking. Thus, hopefully this article would have helped you understand the importance of non-smoking before spinal fusion surgery.
