Crippen MM, et al. - Researchers investigated the influence of smoking on the risk of complications associated with head and neck microvascular reconstructive surgery. In this retrospective, population, database study, they included 2193 patients querying National Quality Improvement Program data sets from 2005 to 2014. Observations revealed an association of perioperative smoking with increased rates of wound breakdown and reoperation within 30 days. They identified no correlation of the degree of risk with number of pack-years smoked. Findings thus suggest a possible benefit of smoking cessation prior to head and neck free flap surgery to decrease postoperative morbidity.