Various factors can promote wound healing; some of them cannot be influenced – such as age. Wounds heal faster in young people. However, the right diet can support anyone in wound healing.
Injuries, especially surgical procedures, are associated with increased stress for the organism: nutrient requirements rise. Nutrients are needed to repair the injured tissue and to fend off possible infections. Numerous studies show that the supply of nutrients can decisively influence recovery after an operation.
How optimal nutrition can promote wound healing
The link between nutrition and wound healing has been recognised for many years. For a wound to heal, it needs oxygen and nutrients. They are indispensable for building new tissue and regulating metabolic processes and are supplied via the blood. Sufficient energy intake and an adequate supply of proteins, vitamins, minerals and trace elements are essential for successful wound healing. The wound leads to increased metabolic activity, and there is a significantly higher requirement for energy and nutrients. Wounds place a greater burden on the metabolism, so the need for nutrients such as vitamins and minerals is increased. At the same time, more protein and energy are needed for cell building during the healing process.
If this increased nutrient requirement is not offset by a higher intake of food components, wound healing is impaired and chronic wound healing disorders can develop. In addition, a nutrient deficiency already present before an operation and the loss of nutrients via wound exudate make smooth healing even more difficult. Adequate nutrition is therefore an important aspect of wound management, but one that has so far received little attention in practice.
Chronic wounds, i.e. wounds that do not heal over several weeks, are particularly difficult to treat and contribute to a large extent to morbidity (frequency of disease) and mortality (death rate).
The negative effects of malnutrition on wound healing are manifold. In wounds with impaired healing, the phases of wound healing are not completed or only incompletely. Healing usually gets stuck in the first phase of wound healing, the inflammatory phase, and less often in the granulation phase. In addition, in malnutrition the activity of leucocytes and the immune function are impaired, which significantly increases susceptibility to wound infections.
3 phases of wound healing and the corresponding vitamin and nutrient requirements:
1) Exudative phase (1–3 days) – the inflammatory phase: above all
vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium
2) Granulation phase (2–14 days) – the tissue-building phase: above all
vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B1, zinc and manganese
3) Regeneration phase (4–21 days) – the renewal phase: above all
vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, copper and manganese
In all 3 phases, attention should be paid to an adequate intake of protein (15–20%), fat (max. 30%), carbohydrates (>= 50%) and fluids. Too low a protein intake in particular delays wound healing. Proteins and their components, the amino acids, are needed to build connective and granulation tissue and for cell growth. If there is a protein deficiency, bacteria can only be killed at reduced capacity. The risk of the wound becoming infected increases. Carbohydrates are the body’s most important source of energy. An adequate supply prevents the breakdown of the body’s own protein to generate energy.
Take the increased metabolism into account. Increase calorie intake.
Vitamins and minerals for better wound healing
Vitamin C is involved, among other things, in the formation of collagen. If collagen is lacking, wounds are more fragile and can reopen more easily.
Vitamin A is important for building skin and mucous membranes.
Vitamin E stabilises the cell membrane. In high doses, however, vitamin E can also inhibit wound healing.
Vitamin K has an indirect effect on the formation of certain clotting factors and therefore on the tendency to bleed.
Zinc promotes wound closure, stabilises cell membranes and suppresses the inflammatory process.
Iron promotes oxygen transport to the healing wound tissues. It is important for healthy scar tissue.
Factors with a negative effect on wound healing:
-Smoking (reduces blood flow in the tissue)
-Undernutrition and deficiencies of vitamins and minerals
– Severe overweight (should be reduced)
But also cold, certain medicines and allergic reactions to suture material.
Chronic wounds
In chronic wounds, it is particularly important to treat any underlying diseases at the same time and to mitigate damaging factors.
Underlying diseases include: overweight/obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, circulatory disorders, rheumatism, arteriosclerosis, malnutrition.
Chronic wounds include:
- Ulcus cruris: leg ulcer, of venous or arterial origin
- Pressure ulcer (bedsore): decubitus
- Diabetic foot: diabetic foot syndrome
- Gangrene: dead tissue, necrosis
Sources and further information
