Serum and drainage fluid vascular endothelial growth factor levels in early surgical wounds.
BACKGROUND
Wound healing relies on a coordinated expression and release of growth factors controlling angiogenesis. We measured vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in serum and early wound fluid following primary sutured and mesh repair of abdominal hernias.


METHODS
Thirty-seven patients were studied measuring serum and wound drainage fluid VEGF by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay preoperatively and on the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th postoperative days.


RESULTS
Serum and wound fluid VEGF levels increased significantly by the 3rd postoperative day and continued to rise during the conduct of the study with wound fluid concentrations always exceeding serum levels. The kinetics of VEGF increases were similar in both types of hernia repair; however, serum and wound levels rose slightly earlier in the mesh repair group.


CONCLUSIONS
Steadily increasing levels of VEGF are detected during the early proliferative phase of wound healing in both serum and wound fluid. It is unknown whether either is predictive for delayed hernia recurrence.
Second Department of Surgery, Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece. akarayan@usa.net
A J
AJ
Karayiannakis
A
A
Zbar
A
A
Polychronidis
C
C
Simopoulos
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D006555:Hernia, Ventral / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013526:Surgical Mesh; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D014945:Wound Healing
D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A