This systematic review of 107 studies documents the substantial increase in perioperative risk caused by smoking, including pulmonary, wound-related, and neurological complications. Gronkjaer M, Eliasen M, Skov-Ettrup LS, Tolstrup JS, Christiansen AH, Mikkelsen SS, Becker U, Flensborg-Madsen T: Preoperative smoking status and postoperative complications: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Surg 2014; 259: 52-71
This narrative review describes the mechanisms contributing to perioperative risk, and how these risks are modified by abstinence. Warner DO: Perioperative abstinence from cigarettes: Physiologic and clinical consequences. Anesthesiology 2006; 104: 356-67
This systematic review found that tobacco use interventions in surgical patients work, and are effective in reducing perioperative complications. Thomsen T, Villebro N, Moller AM: Interventions for preoperative smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2014; 3: CD002294
A practical tobacco treatment intervention implemented in a preoperative clinic is effective in helping surgical patients quit smoking before and after surgery. Lee SM, Landry J, Jones PM, Buhrmann O, Morley-Forster P: The effectiveness of a perioperative smoking cessation program: A randomized clinical trial. Anesth Analg 2013; 117: 605-13