Wound healing: a review. III. Nutritional factors affecting wound healing.

Wound healing proceeds more efficiently and quickly in well-nourished individuals who are in good general health at the time that they have to undergo surgery. Per contra, individuals who are malnourished and chronically ill heal less well and are in general at greater risk of complications during and after surgery. For the latter, elective surgery may be deferred until nutritional improvement is attained, but for emergency or urgent operations, institution of measures promoting good nutrition has to be concurrent with necessitous surgery and continued postoperatively. In this paper, the importance to wound healing of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and trace elements and minerals is reviewed.