John O DeLancey, Eddie Blay, D Brock Hewitt, Kathryn Engelhardt, Karl Y Bilimoria, Jane L Holl, David D Odell, Anthony D Yang, Jonah J Stulberg
BACKGROUND: Adverse postoperative outcomes related to smoking are well established, yet current smokers continue to be offered elective surgery in the US. It is unknown whether patients undergoing low-risk, elective procedures, who actively smoke experience increased risk of complications. We sought to determine the increased burden of complications following elective hernia repair procedures in patients identified as current smokers. METHODS: We identified patients undergoing elective incisional, inguinal, umbilical, or ventral hernia repair from 2011 to 2014 using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (ACS NSQIP) database...
March 6, 2018: American Journal of Surgery