Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery
Urinary point-of-care test for smoking in the pre-operative assessment of patients undergoing elective plastic surgery☆
Section snippets
Methods
A total of 100 patients (62 females, aged 27–78 years, 38 males, aged 18–81 years) attending pre-admission clinic for elective surgery at a large inner-city hospital plastic surgery unit were asked to fill in a comprehensive smoking questionnaire. This was followed by a consented urine sample. All questionnaires were given out and the urine samples were collected by the nursing staff to prevent bias. It has been demonstrated that if the investigator administers the self-report they can identify
Results
Patients attending pre-assessment clinic (n = 100), were recruited to the study, between April and July 2004. No patient refused the urine test post completion of the questionnaire. Eighty-five patients were assessed for general anaesthetics and 15 for local or with a block. The majority were admitted for hand operations (41), 35 for breast and/or abdominal operations and 24 for general plastic surgery procedures.
Discussion
There is growing pressure on smokers to increasingly underestimate consumption, or even to deny smoking altogether. Society has evaluated the true cost of smoking and it is deemed in many countries now to be an anti-social behaviour with bans in public houses, bars and restaurants. In most of the developed world, smoking is the leading preventable cause of morbidity and death despite advances in clinical knowledge and treatment. These facts are true in patients undergoing surgery, but there are
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr Graham Cope, Business Development Manager Surescreen Diagnostics Limited for the supply of the point-of-care urine tests and his invaluable advice in this project.
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Cited by (0)
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Presented at the British Association of Plastic Surgeons, London, on 5 December 2004.