Effects of vinblastine, etoposide, cisplatin and bleomycin on rodent wound healing.

Chemotherapy for malignant disease is usually deferred for three weeks postoperatively to prevent interference with wound healing. Recently, aggressive perioperative combination chemotherapy has improved survival rates in patients with germ cell tumors. Facial dehiscence at one month in a young man on combination chemotherapy for a pure choriocarcinoma prompted this experimental study. Laboratory rats receiving bleomycin, perioperatively and a combination of bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin had a significant decrease in wound breaking strength five weeks after injection. These data suggest that patients receiving bleomycin alone or in combination should have fascial closure with nonabsorbable sutures.