Even passive smokers need more anesthetic during surgery

During operations, both smokers and those exposed to passive smoke require more anaesthetic and painkillers as compared to non-smokers, a new research says.

The findings by Erdogan Ozturk and colleagues from Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul, Turkey, suggest that nicotine could affect the metabolism of anaesthetic drugs in the liver, or may desensitise of the some nerve cells that sense pain.

In this new study, the authors investigated whether there is a difference among smokers, passive smokers, and non-smokers in terms of intraoperative anaesthetic and painkiller consumption.

A total of 90 women undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy were enrolled in the study.

The patients were divided into three groups (30 patients each) based on smoke exposure, confirmed by measurement of serum cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine and marker of tobacco smoke exposure).

One group consisted of smokers, another of passive smokers and last group consisted of women with no history of smoking and also no environmental smoke exposure.

After the operation, the total amount of the anaesthetic and the painkiller used was recorded.

Among smokers, the amount of anaesthetic was 38 percent higher than used for non-smokers and 17 percent higher than for passive smokers.

Among passive smokers, the amount used was 18 percent higher than among non-smokers.

"The amounts of anaesthetic and painkiller required to ensure equal anaesthetic depth in similar surgeries was higher in active smokers and passive smokers compared to non-smokers," the authors said.

The research was presented at Euroanaesthesia meeting in Berlin, Germany.