Using snus may increase the risks associated with surgery
The use of snus is growing in popularity, particularly among young women. However, a doctoral thesis has now shown that its use can increase the risks associated with surgical procedures.
The thesis, Tobacco and surgery: The Swedish Tobacco Cohort, was compiled and written by Magnus Olsson, who recently completed his PhD at the Faculty of Odontology at Malmö University.
Olsson’s thesis consists of four parts, one of which involved working with research colleagues and in collaboration with the Swedish Public Dental Service to create a comprehensive database. It contains data from over five million individuals who, over a 30-year period (1994–2023), have visited the Public Dental Service.
Using this research database and national health registers, he has investigated whether there are links between snus use and the risk of complications associated with dental and gastrointestinal surgery.
It was found that the prescription of antibiotics following dental surgery was approximately 17 per cent more common among women who used snus than among women who did not. The result was statistically significant. However, no corresponding link was found between snus use and an increased need for antibiotics among men.
“It is unclear what lies behind the figures regarding the increased risk of antibiotic prescriptions among women – this study does not reveal that.
“The same applies to the difference in results between men and women. It could, for example, be due to biological differences, or it could be down to entirely different factors such as mental health issues. More research is needed here to clarify which mechanisms may be involved,” says Olsson.
He also found that people who use snus but have never smoked had a slightly higher risk of suffering complications and needed to be readmitted to hospital following gastrointestinal surgery: this applied particularly to men.
Snus users also had an increased risk of developing pneumonia – approximately three times higher compared with people who had never used any form of tobacco. Olsson emphasises, however, that this latter finding must be interpreted with great caution as the data set comprises relatively few cases.
“Overall, the studies suggest that snus use is not without risk in connection with surgery, although questions remain unanswered. Here, the database can contribute in various ways to future tobacco research and new knowledge,” adds Olsson.
