Over one-quarter of elective surgery patients exhibit high-risk substance use, signaling potential complications.

• 27.6% of patients reported high-risk substance use; 6.6% reported polysubstance use.
• Most common substances: cannabis (15.0%), alcohol (11.1%), and nicotine (8.5%).

Routine preoperative screening is essential to identify these risks and optimize patient outcomes.

• Highest rates of high-risk use were seen in neurosurgery (27.1%), lowest in endocrine surgery (15.1%).