Preoperative Nutrition Program Reduces Surgery Costs and Complications

It is a scientific and medical fact that many malformations of scar tissue or prolonged and complicated recoveries from surgical procedures can be avoided by the simple measure of taking the correct micronutrients. This is not new knowledge, however.

As long ago as 1937, Harvard Medical School surgeons observed the importance of vitamin C for wound healing in patients recovering from surgery. They noted that “spontaneous breakdown of a surgical wound in the absence of infection occurs with relative frequency in patients with the cachexia of cancer, in debilitated individuals, and in young patients; notably those who have some congenital anomaly of the gastro-intestinal tract.” Their recommendation for the administration of vitamin C was based on their subsequent observations that wound healing becomes faulty with low vitamin C, and that vitamin C levels were poor in their patients.

While this information remains just as relevant today, it is typically ignored in modern medical practice. As this latest study correctly argues, however, proper nutrition programs can improve patient outcomes and offer substantial cost savings for health care systems.

To learn more about the use of vitamin C and other micronutrients to heal wounds and promote recovery from surgery, see this article on our website.