The effect of cigarette smoking on wound healing

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Abstract
To see if there was any difference in the skin healing of smokers as opposed to non-smokers we studied 120 women admitted consecutively for laparotomy sterilisation. The method of skin suture was standardised. We compared width, length, and colour of the scars, and assessed the overall cosmetic result using a scoring system in 69 smokers and 51 non-smokers. When the incision was in the midline the scars in the smokers measured 7.4 mm averagely as compared with 2.7 mm in non-smokers (pp<0.05). There were no differences between the groups when dark coloured scars were assessed. Overall, using the scoring system, smokers had significantly worse cosmetic results than non-smokers.