Effect of smoking on patient-reported postoperative complications following minor oral surgical procedures

This study evaluated the effect of smoking on patient-reported postoperative complications after minor oral surgical procedures by comparing the post-extraction symptoms between smokers and nonsmokers. Patients undergoing minor oral surgical procedures were recruited and followed up prospectively on the first, second, seventh, and twenty-first days after simple dental extractions. A total of 85 patients completed the study. Postoperative pain, measured with a visual analog scale, was consistently higher among smokers than nonsmokers (P 0.05). Trismus did not vary with time according to smoking status. On the 21st postoperative day, there were no statistically significant differences in postoperative complications between the groups. The patient-reported pain score was consistently higher among smokers. The study’s findings suggested that initial differences in patient-reported complications between smokers and nonsmokers undergoing minor oral surgical procedures diminished after a week.