Highlights
1. A pragmatic randomized controlled trial found no significant difference in 7-month continuous smoking abstinence at 9 months between e-cigarettes and combination nicotine replacement therapy (cNRT) among patients discharged from smoke-free inpatient substance use disorder withdrawal services.
2. Both interventions achieved approximately 10% continuous abstinence rates in a population with high tobacco-related morbidity and mortality.
3. Serious adverse events were low and similar between groups, with none attributable to treatment.
4. Secondary systematic review analysis reveals heterogeneity in longitudinal smoking abstinence trajectories and relapse patterns in e-cigarette cessation trials, highlighting instability of risk ratios over time and the need for further relapse-focused data.
