The effect of oral uptake of nicotine on skin blood perfusion of the face and hands in snus users as determined by thermography.

Abstract

In recent years the number of people using cigarettes in Norway has significantly declined, with intake of nicotine being replaced by smokeless tobacco (ST) products such as snus placed in the oral cavity. While health risks from smoking cigarettes are well known little is known about health risks of using ST. The main aim of this thesis was to compare the effects of oral use of snus with nicotine (SN+) and snus without nicotine (SN-) on skin perfusion in the hands and face in young habitual users of snus. Skin perfusion was indirectly monitored by measuring changes in by skin temperature using infrared thermography. The main findings of this study were a strong decrease in skin perfusion in the hands in the SN+ subjects, with little or no effect in the SN- controls. SN+ had no effect on the skin temperature of the inner canthus of the eye, which will be of interest to those using thermography for fever detection in pandemic screening situations. The clear physiological effects of using snus containing nicotine demonstrated in this study justify advising patients to avoid using snus containing nicotine prior to surgery and in the immediate period after surgery. To my knowledge this study is the first to show the negative effects of SN+ on peripheral circulation.