Effect of nutrition, diet and suture material on long term wound healing

Although it is known that malnutrition hinders early wound healing, it has not been determined whether this occurs because of formation of a poor scar or a slow rate of normal healing; the ultimate fate of the malnourished wound is unknown. Malnutrition was produced in rats by short gut syndrome. Elemental diet was compared to rat chow and silk was compared with polyglycolic acid suture. Nutritional deficiency was seen in short gut rats for two weeks postoperatively. Thereafter adaptation allowed partial recovery, but relative deficiency persisted. Morbidity and mortality of short gut rats doubled that of controls and all wound complications were limited to this group, occurring within the first two weeks. Malnourished animals surviving for 60 days had wound strength equal to the control rats as determined by gut anastomosis bursting strength, skin wound breaking strength and wound hydroxyproline content. Neither diet nor suture material altered ultimate wound strength. Improved nutrition allowed more animals and wound to survive, but ultimate healing survivors was indistinguishable from that of normal controls. Thus early weakness probably results from slow healing rather than formation of poor scar. Nutrition plays an important role in early strength and survival, but not in ultimate wound healing.