TO VAPE OR NOT TO VAPE: HOW VAPING AFFECTS HEALING

E-cigarette Vaping Impacts Wound Healing 

A new study shows that e-cigarette vaping negatively affects skin wound healing, causing damage similar to that of traditional cigarette smoking. 

Researchers, led by a team from Boston Medical Center (BMC), found exposure to both e-cigarette vaping and traditional cigarettes in experimental models resulted in increased tissue death, which delays wound healing. 

In the study published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, researchers exposed experimental models to one of the following: traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes or no cigarettes. They checked serum cotinine levels, a biomarker for exposure to tobacco smoke, in both positive control and experimental groups to ensure that comparable nicotine exposure was achieved in both those groups. Researchers then created skin flaps, which were grafted back on each of the models from which they were created, and then monitored the grafts daily for viability and wound healing. After two weeks, a statistically increased rate of tissue death was found on grafted flaps in groups exposed to either e-cigarettes or traditional cigarettes, according to the study.

“Based on our findings, e-cigarettes are not a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes as it relates to timely wound healing,” says Jeffrey Spiegel, MD, chief of facial plastic surgery at BMC and the study’s corresponding author. “Providers and patients need to understand the risks of both types of smoking so that they can make the best decision to keep the patient as safe as possible before and after surgery.” 

Read more of this study in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery (2018); doi:10.1001/ jamafacial.2018.1179.