Thu. Mar. 1 2001 7:46 PM
Doctors at a Toronto hospital have provoked controversy by saying they will no longer
perform certain bone reconstruction operations on smokers.
Dr. Michael McKee, with St. Michael's Hospital, says a new study has shown that smokers
don't recover from the surgery as well as non-smokers. The study was presented Thursday at
a meeting of the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons in San Francisco.
"It boils down to if you don't stop smoking it's not worth doing it," he says.
"That's how big an effect it has."
McKee studied patients undergoing a procedure to repair severely deformed or fractured
bones.
The results: Smokers did much more poorly than non smokers ... suffering more
complications, more infections and more treatment failures.
As a result, the procedure is no longer performed at the hospital on patients who smoke.
"If I continue to smoke the option is that I can't have the operation," McKee
says. "What's more important ... having a foot or smoking. It's a no-brainer."
But some wonder if the policy is fair ... linking medical treatment to lifestyle choices.
"You're allowed to make mistakes, you're allowed to have bad habits, these do not
affect your access to health care in Canada," says Dr. John Dosseter.
But the policy may be part of a new trend in medicine. Some U.S. hospitals won't perform
back surgery on patients who smoke because they won't heal as well. At least one
Australian hospital won't perform heart transplants on patients McKee believes the policy
is what's best for the patients and for the health care system.
So far patients haven't refused him. In fact, for many the ultimatum is the incentive they
need to kick a habit that may be hurting their ability to heal.