To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Smoking Associated With Increased Risk of Haemorrhage After Throat Surgery URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2294EE.htm Doctor's Guide August 18, 2008
CHICAGO -- August 18, 2008 -- Smoking appears to be associated with an increased rate of haemorrhage in patients who undergo uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) with tonsillectomy, but not in those who undergo tonsillectomy alone, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery. Sean M. Demars, MD, then of Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Washington, and now of Bassett Army Community Hospital, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and colleagues evaluated the rate of postoperative bleeding in 1,010 tonsillectomy patients from 2000 to 2005. Age, sex, and smoking status were also noted. The total bleeding rate for all patients was 6.7%. When smoking was factored in, the bleeding rate for patients who smoked was 10.2% and 5.4% for nonsmokers. The large difference was found "to be attributable to a marked increase in postoperative haemorrhage in the patients who underwent UPPP (10.9% in smokers vs 3.3% in nonsmokers)," the authors wrote. In addition, "men who underwent tonsillectomy alone bled significantly more than women (11.2% vs 5.4%)." Awareness of the association between smoking and postoperative haemorrhage "may help clinicians further counsel their patients before surgery," the authors concluded. "Further investigation of this relationship is needed, with stratification of patients by the number of cigarettes smoked and attention to the length of time before and/or after surgery that patients refrain from smoking." SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.