Electronic Cigarette Okay Before Surgery?

Thank you for your question.  Any nicotine-containing product - whether cigarettes, e-cigarettes, patches, gums, etc. - produces the same effect on the tissues.  This involves constriction of the microscopic vessels which supply blood to all of the tissues of the body, and as a result, a significant retardation of the healing process.  It is imperative that you stop all nicotine-containing products for at least 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after surgery (ideally longer) in order to minimize the chance of wound healing complications.

Hi and thank you for your question.It is best to stop smoking the E cigarette or regular cigarettes three weeks before and three weeks after surgery.  The nicotine can cause issues with healing and may cause complications. Check with your surgeon for his/her recommendations and instructions. Best of lukc!

When one smokes, or uses tobacco in any form, there is vascular constriction. Nicotine is a major vasoconstrictor. Good wound healing is all about getting enough blood supply to the area. The incision will also be put on some tension. Tension is the enemy of good wound healing, and coupled with decreased blood flow in smokers, finds the patient at higher risk of wound problems. Our office does not do facelifts on smokers. Breast reductions and tummy tucks are also on tension and the chance of them falling apart is many fold higher. Please stop using nicotine, (for dozens of reasons). If the prospect of your procedure is a motivation to quit, then so be it.                 

E-cigarettes also have nicotine that is not good for wound healing. You should discuss this with your surgeon before surgery. Best wishes.

Any nicotine containing product will have an adverse effect on wound healing. This is a larger issue for procedures where there is a lot of tissue undermining and rearrangement. Please discuss this with your surgeon before surgery.

Seestar, this is a very important conversation to have with your plastic surgeon before your surgery.  Of course, I recommend that all my patients stop smoking before surgery, but the type of operation you are having may influence your surgeon's instructions.

Nicotine can decrease the blood supply to your tissues and therefore have a negative impact on the healing after your procedure. 

It is great that you are working on quitting, but let your doctor know about this well before your scheduled surgery date.

The trouble with vaping is the nicotine content. Nicotine dcreases blood flow and can reduce the healing potential of a fresh scar. It is best to avoid all nicotine products 4 weeks before and after surgery. This is what I ask of my patients. 

the problematic chemical in cigarettes, including electronic, is nicotine.  There are a variety of e-cigarettes including those with no nicotine and varying amounts of nicotine.  This chemical decreases circulation by causing vasoconstriction which is especially important in a surgical wound that must heal.  In certain operations this may not be as important such as a liposuction procedure, however with breast lifts, tummy tucks, and many other plastic surgery procedures, nicotine use, whether in cigarette, e-cigarette, gum, or patch will lead to a significantly increased rate of wound healing problems among other complications.  Most studies support the cessation of the use of nicotine 3-4 weeks before surgery will reduce this risk down to the rate a non-smoker would experience.

Even though electronic cigarettes avoid the toxic smoke intake of regular cigarettes, the nocitine can still be detrimental to your surgery.  Nicotine, especially when used around surgery, can affect blood circulation and blood pressure.  When healing after surgery, good circulation is required to heal well.  Any circulation problems can cause significant risks to healing such as wound breakdown, necrosis, infection, etc.  So it would be best to stop several days before and for several days after surgery.  Please discuss this with your surgeon.  Thanks for the question.

Part of the answer lies in  what type of surgery your are planning to have done.  If it's just a breast aug, it probably won't increase your risk of complications to any significant degree.  If you're having a mastopexy + augmentation, then it would make a very significant difference in your risk factors.  Discuss in detail with your PS.