The Importance of Pre & Post Operative Recovery Using Supplementation

by Dr. Nirvana Tehranian N.D.

Healing of wounds from either injury or surgical involvement creates an added stress to the body which requires an intensified metabolic demand for nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and proteins. Wound healing involves an intricate series of interactions that call for adequate blood to be supplied to the site of damage.

The wound healing process is a complex series of events that begins at the moment of damage. The stages include Inflammation, Proliferation and Remodeling. During the Inflammatory Stage, days zero to five, the body acts to seal off the blood vessels through a route called hemostasis. The platelets seal off the damaged blood vessels which constrict in response to injury. Additional clotting factors such as fibrin are attracted to the area to strengthen the clot. After the bleeding is in control, inflammatory symptoms are seen such as redness, swelling, warmth in the area and pain. This generally lasts up to four days after the injury. The inflammatory response causes the blood vessels to become leaky therefore releasing factors that help to break down the clot and also provide defense against infection. This course leads into the second phase of wound healing, the Proliferative Stage which can last up to two weeks. It is characterized by the replacement of dermal tissues and contraction in the wound by cells called fibroblasts. During epithelialization, keratinocytes or epidermal cells, differentiate to form the protective outer layer of the skin.  The final stage of the healing process involves Remodeling the dermal tissues to produce greater tensile strength. This phase can take up to 2 years after injury and explains why apparently healed wounds can break down so dramatically and quickly if attention is not paid to the initial causative factors.

In healthy individuals with no underlying factors an acute wound should heal
within three weeks with remodeling occurring over the next year or so. If a wound
does not follow the normal path and is deficient in any of the essential constituents for optimal healing, it may become stuck in one of the stages and the wound will not heal well or lead to excess scar formation. To optimize the process of healing certain factors should be met:

• Prevention or correction of specific nutrient deficiencies
• Provision of adequate calories and protein to meet energy needs.
• Fluid and electrolyte management to maintain normal homeostasis.
• Adequate intake of the vital nutrients for suitable wound healing and cellular defense mechanisms to improve tissue repair.

Through appropriate supplementation via adequate vitamins, minerals, and amino acids proper measures will be taken to prepare the body for surgical intervention. The advantages include:

• Increased re-epithelialization leading to better tensile strength
• Increased bacterial barrier
• Decreased dehydration and cell death
• Decreased scar formation
• Decreased long term cost
• Decreased infection rates
• Decreased recovery time
• Decreased pain

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