Although it has been well known for some time that smoking increases the risk of complication in other orthopedic surgeries, a study recently published by Cancienne, et al. established the risk smoking poses for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Using a comprehensive national insurance database sampling from across the country, the outcome of ACL reconstruction in a total of 1,659 patients with documented tobacco use were compared to 11,699 matched control non-smokers. They found
ACL reconstruction in patients who use tobacco is associated with significantly increased rates of infection, VTE, and subsequent ACL reconstruction compared with controls.
Check out their article here: http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/44/1/99.abstract