FACTORS AFFECTING WOUND

HEALING IN ANIMALS

By: Zaheer Ahmad

 Physical factors:

include temperature, pressure, and tissue oxygen levels.

 Endogenous factors:

include malnutrition and obesity.

 Exogenous factors:

include drugs and radiation.

PHYSICAL FACTORS:
 Temperature:
 affects the tensile strength of wounds
 Ideal conditions to allow wound healing occur at 30°C
 Decreasing the temperature to 12°C results in a 20% loss of tensile wound strength.
MECHANICAL FORCES:
 include pressure and sheer force
 Pressure can compromise blood flow in the region, decreasing oxygen levels in the tissue.
 Sheer forces result in tearing of the vessels
OXYGEN LEVELS:
 Low levels of oxygen interfere with protein synthesis and fibroblast activity, causing a delay in
wound healing.
 Oxygen levels may also be compromised by many other factors, including hypovolemia, the
presence of devitalized tissue, hematomas, seromas, and excessively tight bandages.
ENDOGENOUS FACTORS:
 reflect the overall condition of the animal.

 Anemia may interfere with wound healing by creating low tissue oxygen levels
 Nutrition has a significant overall effect on the body

 hypoproteinemia delays wound healing when the total serum protein content is <2 g/dl, based on
some studies. because wound healing is a function of protein synthesis, malnutrition can alter the
healing process.
 the addition of>dl-methionine or cysteine (an important amino acid in wound repair) can reverse
some delayed wound healing.
 Uremia can interfere with wound healing by slowing granulation tissue formation and inducing the
synthesis of poor quality collagen.
 Obesity contributes to poor wound healing through decreased blood supply and with poor suture
holding in the subcutaneous fat layers.
EXOGENOUS FACTORS:
 include any external chemical that alters wound healing.
 Cortisone is commonly implicated in wound complications
 Corticosteroids markedly inhibit capillary budding, fibroblast proliferation, and rate of
epithelialization. Similar to cortisone,
 vitamin E adversely affects wound healing by slowing collagen production
 Vitamin C is required for hydroxylation of two amino acids, proline and lysine
 Zinc is required for epithelial and fibroblastic proliferation; however, excessive zinc delays wound
healing by inhibiting macrophage function.
 Other factors that inhibit wound healing include radiation, alkylating agents (eg,
cyclophosphamide, melphalan), and inappropriate concentrations of antiseptics.
 In human medicine, NSAIDs have been shown to slow wound healing.