A new animal study published in the prestigious Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (March 2010) reports the benefits of Calcium Channel Blockers (a category of anti hypertension) medication in reducing the risk of skin necrosis and skin loss in animals who were exposed to cigarette smoke. Smoking has been shown to triple the risk of skin injury or skin loss during face lift surgery.  Most plastic surgeons refuse to perform elective face lift surgery on patients who actively smoke.

The adverse effects of cigarette smoking on tissue healing have been widely studied and published. Smoking-related skin necrosis is multi factorial and complex. In addition to reducing blood flow due to nicotine effect on blood vessels, smoking can cause increased blood clot formation and delayed tissue repair. Calcium channel blockers relax the muscles in the lining of blood vessels and partially counteract the spasm inducing effects of nicotine.

Although this finding won’t change my mind in refusing cosmetic surgery in smokers, these results will alter my treatment of smokers who require reconstructive surgery which can not be delayed.

Tags: smoking and surgery

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 10:29 am and is filed under Cosmetic Surgery, facelift, reconstructive surgery, safety of plastic surgery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.