Is it possible to smoke after anesthesia? Can I smoke after tooth extraction? Is it possible to smoke hookah after tooth extraction? Is it possible to smoke immediately after wisdom tooth removal under anesthesia? Didn't tolerate anesthesia well due to smoking

Many people often have a question about what not to do after tooth extraction. Is it possible to smoke and eat regular food and drinks? It would seem, what is the connection between cigarette smoke and a wound after tooth extraction? After all, this is not food; its remains do not linger in the mouth. Let's find answers to these questions together.

Tooth extraction and craving for smoking: what is the harm?

Can I smoke afterwards? Essentially, this is a surgical intervention, after which it takes time to recover mentally and physically, because a serious wound remains. If you follow some measures, the damaged gum will gradually heal. And if we do not interfere with its healing by our usual habits, then closing the cut and its scarring will not be delayed and difficult. Depending on how serious the surgery was, you should try to avoid heavy physical activity or complex workouts. You must adhere to a few more rules that will help you fully rehabilitate yourself.

The relationship between smoking and wounds after tooth extraction

Is it possible to smoke immediately after tooth extraction? You definitely need to give up this bad habit for a while. By inhaling smoke, you only cause harm to your body. Therefore, you should abstain from smoking for about two days (the specific time to quit depends on how complex the tooth extraction operation was). If you have a strong addiction to nicotine and you cannot give it up completely, then you should try to inhale cigarette smoke as little as possible. Why, you ask? The answer is simple: smoking prevents blood clotting, and after tooth extraction, a periodically bleeding wound remains. When smoking, it will tighten and scar very slowly.

The chemical component of cigarette smoke can not only delay wound healing, but even cause bleeding. Can I smoke after tooth extraction? No way! The moment you do this, a forevacuum begins to form in your mouth, which necessarily leads to the beginning of deflection and displacement of the clot. Therefore, you should not smoke immediately after surgery for at least a day.

Is it possible to smoke hookah?

Is it possible to smoke hookah after tooth extraction? Many people believe in the myth that this type of smoking device is absolutely harmless, justifying this by the natural origin of flavored tobacco. No matter how ready a person is to justify his negative habits! It only remains to add that the water inside the flask itself completely cleanses it of various kinds of additives and impurities. Don't believe this!

Hookah will have the same negative and destructive effect on your body as smoking regular cigarettes, and maybe even more. This can also be easily explained by the fact that the filler used for conventional cigarettes undergoes strict control and certification. And tobacco, which is used for hookahs, is not described in any regulations or GOSTs. To summarize, it becomes completely unclear what quality of material you are using to smoke. And it’s not worth talking about the harm you can cause with this.

Obviously, after tooth extraction, hookah smoking should be avoided for the same reason as smoking regular cigarettes. If only because in both cases you will inhale smoke, which will subsequently enter your lungs, not to mention your recently operated oral cavity.

Smoking and drug use: where is the danger?

You probably have a question about whether it is possible to smoke after tooth extraction under anesthesia, and whether it is dangerous. Let's try to figure out what anesthesia is and whether it is even possible to combine it with smoking. As far as everyone knows, anesthesia is a loss of sensitivity and receptivity of any organ of the human body, or it is absolute chloroformation and complete insensibility, loss of consciousness.

Nicotine and carbon monoxide are the main initiators of difficulties and exacerbations in pain relief of this kind. If we talk about this in more detail, it is worth considering that anesthetics affect the functioning of the respiratory muscles through the central nervous system, which significantly reduces the volume of inhaled oxygen. Smoking has the same effect on the body. As you may have guessed, if you combine one with the other, the percentage of oxygen in the blood will decrease; it will not be enough to ensure full functioning of the brain. Because of this, in addition to the extracted tooth, more serious diseases can develop.

How does smoking generally affect the body?

Let's try to figure out what reaction cigarette smoke causes in the body. As soon as you start smoking, nicotine enters your bloodstream. Next, it provokes a huge release of adrenaline, which causes our heart rate to increase and our blood pressure begins to rise. In order for the heart to maintain increased pressure, which is unusual for our body, it must work faster. Only oxygen can contribute to this. But a person who smokes, on the contrary, receives even less oxygen. It is hemoglobin that transports our blood in the body, and if this is prevented, its deficiency appears. But it is carbon monoxide that prevents hemoglobin from performing its transporter function. Thus, it became clear to us that people who smoke experience a huge lack of oxygen, a deficiency that especially manifests itself during anesthesia.

It is now clear why people who regularly breathe cigarette smoke are at great risk of cardiovascular complications. And there is no question of smoking a cigarette after anesthesia. On the contrary, to eliminate and prevent respiratory disorders, smokers must perform breathing exercises.

Wisdom teeth and smoking

Is it possible to smoke? The operation to remove this often problematic tooth is considered more serious than the removal of a regular one. Very often, when it grows, purulent formations appear between the tooth itself and the gum. This phenomenon was given the name pericoronitis. When the disease often manifests itself and recurs, such an operation requires enormous effort both for the doctor performing the removal operation and for the patient, who will have to experience a lot of discomfort. And after the operation, only one patient can contribute to the rapid healing of the wound.

As you may have guessed, smoking after such a complex operation is strictly prohibited. It is difficult to name the exact amount of abstinence time after such a surgical intervention. Everything is strictly individual and depends on the complexity of the operation. And, of course, on how successful the result is. You should definitely check with your doctor about how long you should give up this destructive habit. The specialist will give the necessary advice, which will lead to your speedy recovery.

Conclusion: be careful with bad habits!

To summarize, we can say that despite the eternal youth of our soul, our body physically wears out. And what you will be like in the future depends solely on how much you take care of yourself and try to stay healthy. It is very important not only to pay attention to your own habits and desires, but also to listen to your body. In order not to aggravate chronic diseases, you must adhere to some very simple rules that will help the body quickly overcome the disease and quickly return to its usual way of life.

Thoracic surgeons agree: a large percentage of the patients on their operating tables are smokers. They are joined by operating cardiologists: bypass surgery, stenting, suturing and many other operations on the heart and its vessels are also the lot of smokers.

No operation is complete without anesthesia. And not a single anesthesia for a smoker is without complications. There are many reasons for this. Shall we talk about them?

Nervous system. Brain

Smoking forms an addiction to the process; nicotine affects receptors, and through them neurons. Apparently, it is the interference of nicotine in neural connections that leads to the fact that in smokers:

the reaction to preoperative premedication (drug preparation) is weakly expressed, and this complicates the course of the preoperative period and the early stage of induction of anesthesia;
the pain sensitivity threshold is higher, which worsens the course of the postoperative period;
The period of pre-anesthesia preparation and the anesthesia itself (mostly intubation) is more difficult.

Another effect of nicotine on VSN is the activation of adrenaline production, which leads to bright or smoothed signs of a panic attack, and over time causes disturbances in the physiology of the central nervous system and vascular tone, leading to the formation of arterial hypertension

But the cells of the vomiting center “trained” by smoking facilitate the course of the postoperative period by reacting weaker or not at all to the vomiting-stimulating effect of anesthesia drugs.

The cardiovascular system

It is difficult to separate the effects of nicotine on the central nervous system and the cardiovascular system, they are so interrelated.

One of the typical manifestations of nicotine stimulation is a pathological increase in cardiac muscle activity due to the effect of nicotine on the conduction system of the heart. This effect consists of increasing the contractile activity of the heart, vascular tone, and blood pressure. The myocardium in such situations consumes more oxygen, and this is precisely the problem - due to insufficient respiratory function.

Nicotine is a tissue poison, and one of its toxic properties is that it disrupts the ratio of calcium and sodium in cells, leading to hyperexcitability of cardiomyocytes (heart cells) with the subsequent occurrence of arrhythmia and ischemic foci.

Respiratory system

Here again, it is very difficult to separate respiratory problems in smokers from the pathology of the cardiovascular system.

Smoking leads to chronic tissue hypoxia, and during surgical interventions it is one of the priority risk factors for such disorders as: deterioration of pulmonary ventilation, widespread reaction to surgical trauma, the appearance of atrial fibrillation and other types of arrhythmias, the development of increased bleeding, disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome, sympatho-adrenal crisis. A smoker's lungs have a narrowed lumen, which makes intubation difficult and leads to the development of broncho- and laryngospasm.

Viscous thick mucus in combination with chronic congestion causes intraoperative and early postoperative complications, especially against the background of intubation anesthesia: respiratory arrest, mechanical blockage of the lumen of the lungs, pneumonia, atelectasis, emphysema. It is during this period that it is important that mucus is easily removed from the lungs using suction or naturally. For this purpose, after extensive surgical interventions, active and passive breathing exercises are prescribed, which are effective in non-smokers or those who have quit smoking. Smokers have to additionally prescribe medications to thin and stimulate the outflow of mucus.

For an anesthesiologist, indicating that a patient smokes is an extra headache. This means that you will have to adjust the dose of oxygen, analgesics, and muscle relaxants. It threatens complications in the early postoperative period, for example, early removal of the endotracheal tube can lead to respiratory arrest due to obstruction by thick mucus. It is difficult to keep such patients in bed - in order to get their hands on the coveted cigarette, they are ready to commit serious violations of the regime. And finally, postoperative wounds in smokers heal much worse compared to non-smokers, and the risk of unsuccessful surgery increases by 4-10 times, depending on the intervention.

Anesthesia in a smoker. Possible complications

Smoking is a major medical and social problem.

It turns out that, in addition to the fact that smoking has an adverse effect on the human body, it also significantly affects the course of anesthesia, increasing the risk of developing various diseases.

Why is anesthesia dangerous for people who smoke?

Nicotine and carbon monoxide are the main culprits of anesthesia complications in smokers. Inhaling nicotine when smoking releases large amounts of adrenaline in the body, which causes increased heart rate and increased blood pressure. But in order to beat frequently and maintain unusually high blood pressure, the heart needs to work harder and, therefore, receive more oxygen. However, a person who smokes, on the contrary, receives even less oxygen. This happens because carbon monoxide inhaled during smoking blocks hemoglobin, which is the main carrier of oxygen in the body. Thus, the smoker’s heart experiences a large oxygen deficiency, especially pronounced during anesthesia. That is why smokers during anesthesia are at significant risk of developing cardiovascular complications.

Smoking significantly alters the functioning of the body's enzyme systems, which are responsible for breaking down external toxins and drugs. Therefore, administering anesthesia to smokers is associated with some unpredictability in the action of the drugs used.

Considering that the lungs of smokers are a target for constant exposure to harmful substances contained in cigarettes, anesthesia in smokers is associated with a high risk of developing respiratory complications. Patients who smoke have a 5 times greater risk of developing complications such as atelectasis, bronchitis and pneumonia. In addition, during anesthesia, the airways of smoking patients become very susceptible to any external influences. Thus, it often causes a sharp closure (spasm) of the lumen of the larynx (laryngospasm) and bronchi (bronchospasm); these disorders can pose a threat to the patient’s life.

Also, smokers after anesthesia have a higher incidence of suppuration of postoperative wounds.

What to do if you are planning to undergo anesthesia and you smoke?

It is necessary to completely normalize the level of nicotine and carbon monoxide in the smoker’s blood so that during anesthesia the risk of cardiovascular complications is significantly reduced. To do this, it is necessary that at least 24 hours pass between the start of anesthesia and the last cigarette smoked. To reduce the risk of respiratory complications, the patient must completely quit smoking, and at least 2 months must pass from the last cigarette smoked to the time of anesthesia.

Interestingly, the best results, in terms of the risk of developing post-anesthesia complications, are observed in patients who either quit smoking more than 2 months ago, or their last cigarette was smoked 24 hours before anesthesia. Paradoxically, patients who quit smoking several days to a month before anesthesia have an even greater risk of respiratory complications than patients who did not quit smoking. These patients cough up sputum very poorly, and moreover, it is produced in larger quantities than usual. All this predisposes to the development of bronchitis and then pneumonia after anesthesia.

Providing anesthesia to smokers has a number of specific features. Thus, during anesthesia, patients who smoke require the administration of large doses of anesthetics and narcotic analgesics. After anesthesia, smoking patients often need to breathe oxygen, as impaired lung function begins to make itself felt. Also, after anesthesia, smokers have an increased need for painkillers; these drugs are administered more often and in larger doses. To prevent respiratory disorders, smoking patients after anesthesia should do breathing exercises; in addition, a course of chest massage and other physiotherapeutic procedures is recommended.

For general or local anesthesia, anesthetic drugs are used. All medications have a number of side effects. To reduce the risk of complications, it is important to adhere to the rules recommended by the anesthesiologist.

Nicotine and alcohol are incompatible with anesthetics. They can affect the course of anesthesia in different ways. In some cases, the anesthetic medicine will have a weak effect on the body, or may enhance the effect of anesthesia.

After surgery, some patients do not know whether it is possible to smoke (ordinary cigarettes or electronic cigarettes, hookah), drink alcohol (beer, wine, etc.)? And how soon can I use it?

You should talk to your doctor about your lifestyle after surgery.

Alcoholic drinks after surgery

Medicines are eliminated from the body after a certain time. During the first day - the main part of the medicine, and over the next days or weeks the residual concentration of the anesthetic substance. The elimination period depends on the type of anesthetic and dosage, as well as the condition of the body. Therefore, drinking alcohol within a short period of time after anesthesia or local anesthesia is not recommended.

Beer contains an average of 5% alcohol, but is also a product that causes fermentation, which complicates the healing of postoperative wounds. Even low-alcohol drinks have a stronger effect on the body after anesthesia, since low concentrations of alcohol adversely affect the weakened body during rehabilitation. Therefore, it is not recommended to drink beer while the body is recovering after surgery.

Under the influence of alcohol, blood has low coagulability. This causes bleeding that is difficult to stop. In some cases, bleeding is fatal.

During the postoperative period, alcohol is strictly prohibited!

After surgery, the attending physician most often prescribes antibiotics to the patient. Alcohol should not be drunk during antibiotic therapy for a certain group of drugs, as it can cause a disulfiram-like reaction.

Such patients exhibit symptoms such as:

severe headache
spasms of the upper and lower extremities,
tachycardia,
feelings of heat in the chest, face and neck,
nausea,
heavy and intermittent breathing.

You should ask your doctor about when you can drink alcohol after surgery. After all, everyone’s recovery time is different.

The concentration of alcohol in the blood when drinking beer and wine depends on the amount drunk. But it is worth remembering that even a small dose of alcohol can increase the risk of complications after anesthesia (local, general) or increase the recovery time for an operated patient.

Non-standard smoking methods and their impact

Is it possible to smoke in the postoperative period? What type of smoking (regular or electronic cigarette, hookah) is safe? Surgical patients face these questions and naturally want answers to them.

Many people believe that smoking hookah is a safe alternative to regular cigarettes. But there are some nuances here that are hidden from smokers. Yes, hookah tobacco contains a minimal amount of nicotine - 0.5%, and there is no tar, unlike a standard cigarette, but the carbon monoxide released when smoking causes enormous harm to the body.

Carbon monoxide from hookah smoking is not the only harmful substance; there are others that accumulate in the body. For example, increased concentrations of arsenic, lead, chromium, carboxyhemoglobin, nicotine. Unlike regular cigarettes, a person can smoke a hookah for quite a long time (up to several hours). Therefore, the amount of harmful substances entering the human body when smoking hookah tobacco is much greater.

Scientists have proven that if you smoke a hookah for an hour, the harm to the body will be the same as from smoking a hundred standard cigarettes.

Another common alternative to standard smoking is electronic cigarettes. People generally think that when they start smoking electronic cigarettes, they cause minimal harm to the body. Therefore, there is a false opinion that standard cigarettes can be replaced with this type after anesthesia or anesthesia.

Electronic cigarettes use a special smoking liquid that contains nicotine. Everyone already knows that it negatively affects internal organs and the nervous and cardiovascular systems, and also causes addiction and dependence.

Electronic cigarettes cause nicotine addiction

It is known and proven that regular cigarettes adversely affect the course of anesthesia and the recovery of the body after surgery. Contribute to the development of pneumonia, bronchitis and complications from the cardiovascular system. When you can start smoking in the postoperative period, you need to ask your doctor.

Smoking after surgery:

Before our eyes. During the recovery period, you should stop smoking cigarettes. When smoking, the pressure in the eyes changes dramatically, and tobacco smoke can enter the eyes, which adversely affects the healing process. Experienced smokers need to minimize the number of cigarettes they smoke.
For appendicitis removal. Smoking is prohibited in the first three days after surgery.
In the oral cavity. Smoking is not recommended during the first two postoperative days.
On the heart. It is necessary to stop smoking not only during the recovery period, but also to quit this harmful habit altogether.
And other surgical interventions.

The postoperative period for recovery of the body is different for everyone, depending on the complexity and how long the surgical intervention lasted. Therefore, the period of quitting smoking varies, and in some cases it is necessary to completely forget about cigarettes forever.

No matter what type of smoking (hookah or electronic cigarettes) is chosen to replace conventional cigarettes after medicinal sleep or local anesthesia, this will not help reduce the risk of complications. On the contrary, it promotes the manifestation of chronic diseases and long healing of postoperative wounds. Therefore, it is necessary to give up bad habits during the rehabilitation period.

The use of general anesthesia has become an integral part during a long operation. In order to prevent most complications after anesthesia, the recommendations of the anesthesiologist cannot be ignored. Proper preparation is the key to successful rehabilitation after medical intervention. There is a certain group of patients that are more susceptible to developing complications both during surgery and after. It includes people who smoke and who drank alcohol the day before. So what consequences in the form of complications can be provoked if you ignore the doctor’s advice? How do nicotine and alcohol affect the course of anesthesia? Why is it sometimes not possible to abruptly quit smoking before surgery and vice versa?

Nicotine molecule

Smoking is a major risk factor for complications in patients under general anesthesia. When a person inhales nicotine, a number of changes occur in the body. They are associated with the highest production of adrenaline, which increases heart rate and blood pressure. The heart begins to work harder in order to get more oxygen, but in smokers the opposite happens. Hemoglobin is involved in the transport of oxygen in the human body, and during smoking it is blocked by inhaled carbon monoxide. Under the influence of nicotine, blood vessels narrow. For these reasons, the heart works with double load without receiving the required amount of oxygen, which causes oxygen starvation not only of the heart muscle, but also of all internal organs, every cell of the smoker. Due to these changes, consequences in the form of complications from the cardiovascular system occur more often.

Cigarettes primarily hit the lungs. The harmful substances contained in them negatively affect the respiratory tract, thereby causing various lung diseases. Heavy smokers most often experience chronic bronchitis, which is accompanied by daily morning coughing of phlegm after smoking a cigarette. Therefore, complications from the respiratory system during or after general anesthesia may be observed more often in smoking patients.

Woman suffers from smoker's chronic bronchitis

Optimal timing for quitting smoking

The experience of smokers can vary greatly, as well as the number of cigarettes smoked per day. That is why some are contraindicated to suddenly quit smoking before an upcoming surgery.

If a patient who smokes shows signs of chronic bronchitis, then the anesthesiologist will advise the patient to smoke a cigarette so that he can cough up the accumulated phlegm in the lungs. Otherwise, stagnant sputum in the lungs can provoke the development of pneumonia after anesthesia.

The patient should quit smoking not a few days before surgery under general anesthesia, but at least 2 months before. If a patient gives up smoking earlier, then, on the contrary, his risk of developing post-anesthesia complications increases.

But it is worth noting that there are some operations before which smoking is strictly prohibited. Scientists from the University of California conducted research and their findings showed interesting statistics. Patients who smoked a cigarette during the day before surgery to excise a brain tumor were more likely to die than non-smokers during surgery under anesthesia. In smoking patients undergoing spinal surgery, a longer rehabilitation period could be observed than in patients who did not have this addiction.

It is important to quit smoking long before surgery. If surgery is required immediately, then it is necessary to fully follow the recommendations of the anesthesiologist. This will avoid post-anesthesia complications.

Alcohol intoxication and general anesthesia

Alcohol can affect the course of anesthesia in different ways, no matter how much you drink. For some patients under the influence of alcohol, the standard dose of anesthesia is not enough, as a result of which the patient may wake up during the operation. For others, on the contrary, the required dosage may be too high, which will contribute to the development of respiratory and cardiovascular depression.

In patients who drink alcohol-containing drinks every day, carbohydrate metabolism is observed. Therefore, complications may develop with some anesthetic drugs in such patients. For example, withdrawal syndrome, which manifests itself in the form of inappropriate behavior or encephalopathy. It is not recommended to consume alcoholic beverages during the day before surgery.

An attack of nausea in a man after drinking alcohol

Patients who are intoxicated but who drink irregularly require an increased dosage of anesthetic medications. Because under the influence of alcohol, the effect of anesthetics wears off faster and the risk of waking up during surgery increases.

Conclusion

Both smoking and alcohol affect the course of general anesthesia and the rehabilitation period after surgery. All recommendations given by the anesthesiologist regarding preparation before anesthesia must be carefully followed. You should only answer the doctor’s questions with the truth; this will help avoid serious consequences, and in some cases, death.