The COVID-19 associated morbidity could decrease after just four weeks of smoking cessation (as the risk of respiratory complications in a meta-analysis of twenty-five studies on short-term preoperative smoking cessation and postoperative complications) (Eisenberg and Eisenberg, 2020; Wong et al., 2012). Healthcare providers should encourage substitution treatments and provide information on benefits of quitting smoking, this period being a “teachable moment” (Underner et al., 2020). Withdrawal symptoms are likely to occur, especially when tobacco smoking is associated with social behaviors.
