Tobacco Control and Smoking

Factsheets - Smoking Causes Gangrene

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Fact Sheet 2: Smoking causes gangrene

Smoking causes ganagrene cigarette packet graphic warning picture.

Smoking damages the blood vessels throughout the body, including the extremities. Damage to the blood vessels supplying the arms and legs leads to a condition known as peripheral vascular disease (PVD). PVD most commonly occurs in the legs and feet, but it can also develop in the arms and hands.¹

Smoking causes 68 percent of PVD among males and 61 percent among females.⁴

If you start smoking at or before the age of 16 there is evidence that you more than double your risk of developing PVD, regardless of the amount you smoke.²

People may have PVD without the usual symptoms of pain, but the most common symptom of PVD is intermittent severe pain, usually in the legs when exercising. ³ This pain may also be present when not exercising. In the later stages of PVD, open sores in the legs and feet may not heal because of poor blood supply and this can progress to gangrene or the death of the affected tissue. In severe cases, amputation may be necessary for relief of pain and to prevent the development of gangrene.¹

Gangrene is when the tissue becomes blackened or dead. The dead tissue must be cut away or it will rot endangering the patient’s life. The cutting away of gangrenous tissue often results in amputation often of the toes but sometimes the foot or part of the leg.

If you have PVD, continuing to smoke during treatment is likely to result in less successful treatment than if you were not smoking.¹

Someone who has previously smoked is more than four times as likely as a non-smoker to develop PVD and current smokers are more than 11 times more likely than non-smokers to suffer from PVD. ⁴

Quitting smoking will reduce your chance of developing PVD. If you already have PVD, quitting will increase the likelihood that treatment will be successful.

Want to quit smoking? The most important thing is to make a quit attempt. For help, talk to your doctor, pharmacist, quit smoking provider or call the Quitline on 0800 778 778 or visit The Quit Group web site at www.quit.org.nz

Sources:
1 American Council on Science and Health. 2003. Cigarettes: What the warning label doesn't tell you. Second edition. New York, American Council on Science and Health, 2003. http://www.acsh.org/publications/pubID.206/pub_detail.asp (accessed 11/02/08)
2 Planas A, et al. 2002. Age at onset of smoking is an independent risk factor in peripheral artery disease development, in Journal of Vascular Surgery, March 2002; 35 (3): 506-9. http://www.jvascsurg.org/medline/record/MDLN.11877699 (accessed 11/02/08)
3 US Department of Health and Human Services. 2004. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/index.htm (accessed 11/02/08)
4 Holman & Armstrong et al. (1990). The quantification of drug caused morbidity and mortality in Australia 1988. Canberra: AGPS.

Page last updated: 27 March 2008