[Perioperative tobacco cessation: potential benefits and principles of management]

Thirty percent of surgical patients undergoing routine surgery are smokers, and smoking is an additional risk for these patients. During the perioperative period, smokers are more prone than non smokers to present either systemic complications interesting the cardiovascular and pulmonary functions or specific complications related to the surgical procedure, such as infections, wound problems and delayed osteosynthesis. Therefore, coming-off from smoking addiction is an obvious prerequisite in these patients. Diagnosing smoking habit, evaluating its severity and its systemic repercussions on vital functions, as well as proposing an efficacious and appropriate help to smokers before surgery become one essential objective of pre-anesthetic assessment.