Lu Lu, I'm a looong time smoker myself, and I think the reason Dr's want us to quit before surgery is because anytime you have a general anestheia, they have to put a tube down your throat to "breath" for you. This tube is pulled out before you go to the recovery room. IF a person is a smoker, it COULD lead to problems when its time to breathe on your own after the tube is removed. I hope this helps.
The reason he won't do the surgery if you smoke has nothing to do with the band itself, but the greatly increased risk of problems occurring during surgery. Smokers can't oxygenate their organs properly, making healing take longer and the risk of infection higher. Statistically speaking, it's smokers that have more problems with anesthesia for the same reason.
Overall, your risk of serious complications and/or death increases significantly if you're a smoker, and that is why most surgeons won't perform elective surgeries like Lap-Band on smokers. Most require you've been smoke free for a month.
kychicklet got a reaction from ThruThickandThin in Smoking Cigarettes With The Band...