Quitting Smoking Can Prevent Wound Infections [08/05-4]

Excerpts from: Smoking cessation can prevent wound infection

By Susan Aldridge, PhD Health and Age [08/03/03]

Just four weeks of quitting smoking offers significant protection from wound infection, researchers say.

Doctors in Copenhagen looked at the healing of an experimental small incision in both smokers and non-smokers. In the smoking group, the participants either continued to smoke or abstained (using a nicotine path or a placebo patch).

The study suggests that surgeons should impress on their patients the need for giving up smoking before an operation. This study looked at just small experimental wounds. In the real world, after surgery, the effects of smoking on wound healing are likely to be far more detrimental.

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