First the bad news: Smoking is associated with a nearly 50 percent increase in surgical infections and pulmonary complications following total joint replacement, according to a study presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Researchers examined the 30-day post-operative impact of smoking in 33,336 war veterans after total hip or knee replacement between 2002 and 2008. Results showed that then-current smokers were significantly more likely than never smokers to have surgical-site infections.
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