I have a question about surgery and marijuana usage

By Urusula22 on 27 Sep 2012

I am a recreational weed smoker and am reluctant to tell my surgeon about it. I had knee surgery earlier this year and didn't tell the orthopedic surgeon or the anesthesiologist about it, and everything went fine. I assume they may do a tox screen on each surgical patient anyway. I'd appreciate some feedback in the way of anecdoctal stories like mine or some general factual knowledge about marijuana and surgery.

Comments (3)

jessicarabbitmiami 24 Apr 2013

You really should let your doctor know about it. He is not going to call the cops on you, if that's your fear. But because weed is a vasodilator (opens up the blood vessels), it can have significant effects on your recovery... Bleeding, clotting, etc. It's something you should share, or if you are too shy to share then perhaps stop smoking for at least 2 weeks prior to and after surgery. That way it won't matter.

Kaitlyn8059 17 Oct 2012

as i understand it any smoking at all is bad because it limits the amount of oxygen in your system which slows healing. (i was even scolded for useing an e cigarette to curb my cravings) with that said i did smoke some(both cigs and weed) right before surgery and afterwards with no complications and my healing has been very quick and easy.

Angiemcc (Community Manager) 1 Oct 2012

I know that tobacco is very much a no-no for weeks before and after surgery as it can contribute to tissue death. I don't know about the marijuana though. You can post this as a question to doctors in the Q&A community. Here is a blog post written last year about this issue.