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J Reconstr Microsurg 1996; 12(7): 467-474
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1006620
CLINICAL REVIEW

© 1996 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

Cigarette Smoking, Plastic Surgery, and Microsurgery

Lawrence D. Chang, Gregory Buncke, Sheri Slezak, Harry J. Buncke
  • Division of Plastic Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
  • Division of Plastic Surgery, University of California-San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California
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Publication History

Accepted for publication 1996

Publication Date:
08 March 2008 (online)

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ABSTRACT

Although tobacco smoking is known to result in coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, lung cancer, and other smoking cancers, many surgeons believe that smoking also results in impaired wound healing and poor surgical results. Large clinical experiences in several areas of plastic surgery reinforce this suspicion. Procedures that have been noted to be adversely affected by cigarette smoking include rhytidectomy, abdominoplasty, breast reconstruction, free-tissue transfer, and digital replantation. This article reviews the available data, introduces new clinical data, and hypothesizes about the ways in which some procedures are more affected than others.

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