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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : October 20, 2018 4:58 PM IST
e-cigarette vaping negatively affects skin wound healing. © Shutterstock
A new study found that e-cigarette vaping negatively affects skin wound healing. However, it can cause similar damage to that of traditional cigarette smoking. The researchers led by the team from Boston Medical Center (BMC) used experimental models for the research and found exposure to both e-cigarette vaping and traditional cigarettes resulted in increased tissue death, which delays wound healing.
The study has been published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery. It has provided important information for providers on how to counsel their patients considering surgery on the negative impacts of both traditional and e-cigarettes on their wound healing progress and safety.
According to the Journal report, in the surgical field, the adverse effects of traditional cigarette smoking on wound healing has been well established. Surgeons recommend several months prior to surgery that patients quit smoking whenever possible.
However, alternative options to traditional smoking, such as electronic cigarette "vaping" are gaining popularity, and there has not yet been significant research done about whether it is a safer alternative to traditional smoking, particularly in the perioperative period.
For the study, the researchers exposed experimental models to one of the following: traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, or to no cigarettes. In both positive control and experimental groups they checked serum cotinine levels, a biomarker for exposure to tobacco smoke, to ensure comparable nicotine exposure was achieved in both these groups.
The researchers then created skin flaps back on each of the models and after two weeks, the researchers found that the there was an increased rate of tissue death.
Jeffrey Spiegel, MD, chief of facial plastic surgery at BMC and the study's corresponding author reportedly said that based on their findings, e-cigarettes are not a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes as it relates to timely wound healing.
