Reduced wound healing capacity in alcohol abusers – reversibility after withdrawal

Abstract

removal, the subcutaneous accumulation of hydroxyproline, proline and total protein is measurable (6). In this model, the accumulated collagen in the ePTFE tube has been found to correlate with the tensile strength at experimental wounds (7). The aim of the study was to evaluate wound healing at alcohol abuse and after withdrawal. Material After informed consent, sixteen alcoholic outpatients (12 men and 4 women) were included for evaluation of wound healing capacity, when they entered the Alcohol Unit for treatment of alcohol abuse. The patients had been drinking 240 g (median) ethanol daily (range 72-1,020) for at least three months before inclusion. They were all in relatively good physical condition; however, two patients suffered from chronic bronchitis in mild to moderate degree, and one from non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. None of the abusers had clinical or biochemical signs of hepatitis or hepatic cirrhosis.

Randomized clinical trial of expressive writing on wound healing following bariatric surgery.

“…Measuring hydroxyproline deposited in ePTFE tubes is one of the best available techniques to assess the later stages of wound healing (Jorgensen, Sorensen, Kallehave, Schulze, & Gottrup, 2001). This method of wound assessment has been used in a number of previous studies (e.g., Broadbent et al, 2012; Goodson & Hunt, 1982; Tønnese, Pedersen, Lavrsen, Tuxøe, & Thomsen, 2012; Windsor, Knight, & Hill, 1988), is safe, and hydroxyproline accumulated in ePTFE tubes has been found to correlate with wound tensile strength (Gottrup, Lorentzen, & Jorgensen, 1999). Secondary outcomes included assessments of proinflammatory cytokine levels and cortisol levels in wound fluid collected over the 24 hr immediately postsurgery to assess the inflammatory response and stress hormones, as well as perceived stress 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after surgery.…”

Scand-Ankle: Alcohol intervention in acute surgery of ankle fracture

“…70 Wound healing is impaired in alcohol abusers due to a slow early inflammatory response with inhibition of wound closure, 71 which normalises after eight weeks of abstinence. 72 It seems that it takes up to two months of abstinence from alcohol to normalise the immune competence, but only two weeks of abstinence before cellular immunity has improved. 73 In addition, bone turnover and bone mass can take up to 2 years to recover.…”