Effect of supplemental vitamin A on the healing of colon anastomosis

Abstract The effect of dietary supplementation with vitamin A on the healing of colon anastomoses was studied. Fifty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups: (1) rats fed a standard chow which contains the equivalent of about 15 IU vitamin A/g diet; (2) rats fed the chow supplemented with an additional 150 IU vitamin A/g diet. Rats were prefed for 5 days; on Day 6 under ether anesthesia the colon was divided 1-in. distal to the ileocecal junction and then reanastomosed. The rats were maintained on the above diets for 5 days and killed on the sixth postoperative day with ether and the segment of colon containing the anastomosis was resected. In 15 rats of each group, the breaking strength of the anastomosis was measured. In the remaining 10 rats of each group, the bursting strength of the anastomotic site and a segment of normal distal colon was measured. Samples of colon from the anastomotic site and the normal segment were analyzed for hydroxyproline. There was a significant decrease in hydroxyproline content at the anastomotic site when compared to the normal distal colon segment in each group of rats ( P P P P P