Vaping and Orthopaedic Surgery: A scoping review of the literature

Abstract

Over the past decade, vaping has grown in popularity among adolescents and young adults. Much remains unknown regarding its effects on orthopaedic surgery. This scoping review expands upon previous reviews by evaluating updated literature from 2025 and including evaluation of orthopaedic injuries caused by vaping accidents. A search was conducted across seven databases. The search used a combination of keywords and Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms. Titles and abstracts were screened for eligibility for inclusion criteria. Full texts were screened and included if they met criteria. Demographics and results of the studies were extracted from the articles that met inclusion criteria. In clinical studies vaping led to increased complications and negative outcomes in patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, and total shoulder arthroplasty. Vaping was associated with increased self- reported rates of fragility fractures and decreased hand microcirculation. Studies highlighted the potential negative effects of vaping on bone and wound healing. Vaping trauma injuries led to patients experiencing burns, cervical spine injuries, bilateral hand sweet syndrome, and mangled hand injuries requiring complex reconstruction. Vaping may have a negative association on orthopaedic surgery outcomes in arthroplasty and spine surgery and may affect outcomes in other orthopaedic subspecialty surgeries as well. Vaping could potentially have negative effects on several organ systems, which may lead to surgical complications. Traumatic vaping injuries can cause serious orthopaedic injuries requiring operative management. Future studies can be conducted to evaluate the full effects of vaping on orthopaedic surgery.

Level of Evidence: Level 4; Therapeutic