London - A new National Health Service trial is looking into whether electronic cigarettes might hinder recovery after surgery.
Slower healing after an operation is a known problem for smokers of conventional cigarettes, which interfere with blood flow, affecting the supply of oxygen and nutrients to damaged tissue.
E-cigarettes deliver vaporised nicotine without other harmful ingredients such as tar and carbon monoxide.
However, nicotine still has toxic effects - including releasing chemicals that could reduce blood flow in small blood vessels.
This kind of blood vessel is particularly prevalent in the hands, and a trial at the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust is investigating the effects of e-cigarettes on blood flow in this area, and whether patients with hand injuries need to be given advice about quitting.
Patients should be told to give up smoking conventional cigarettes at least four weeks before surgery, suggests other research. - Daily Mail