This study was designed to determine if cigarette smoking adversely affects functional recovery following ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in peripheral nerves. Forty Wistar rats were divided evenly among four groups. Animals in groups A and B were exposed to cigarette smoke via a controlled smoking chamber for 20 minutes daily. On study day 14, all animals underwent a controlled I/R injury to one sciatic nerve. Recovery was assessed with walking track assessments, malondialdehyde (MDA) assay, and histology. Walking track results on study day 21 did not differ significantly between the smoking and nonsmoking animals. However, by study day 28, the nonsmoking animals showed a greater degree of functional recovery (SFI = -18.0 and -22.8, respectively, P = 0.03). MDA concentration in the smoking group was significantly higher than the nonsmoking group at the 28 day time point (P = 0.04). Exposure to cigarette smoke was associated with a slower functional recovery following peripheral nerve I/R injury.

contrasts with our expectations and also with the results of Huffmyer et al. where, after working six consecutive night shifts, residents showed deteriorated driving performance. Possibly this difference is due to our conceivably less strenuous four-night shift roster.We realise that our group size is relatively small. The results of this study, however, may serve to prompt further studies to provide conclusive information to help create safer rosters as they suggest that it may be possible to build rosters without consequences for cognitive functioning. In addition, although we focused on perceptual speed and vigilance while driving a car, both these cognitive functions are important in clinical anaesthesiological duties as well. Perceptual speed refers to the ability to acquire useful information at a glance and decreased vigilance during monotonous tasks is otherwise known as 'highway hypnosis'. Perceptual speed is used in high stress anaesthesia situations and decreased vigilance may play a role during long uneventful procedures and could be an area of further research (hopefully disproving often informally raised suspicions about anaesthesiologists' workload).