Wound healing: impairing factors: practice question

A General Surgery question in the style of the NEET PG paper. Answer it first, then read why the right option is right and why each of the others is wrong.

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General Surgery · Wound healing: impairing factors

Sample item

A patient is on long-term high-dose prednisolone and has a delayed healing wound. Which supplement can partly reverse this steroid effect?

Original practice item, not a recalled exam question. Nothing here is recorded.

The answer and the reasoning

C. Vitamin A

Corticosteroids inhibit inflammation, fibroblast function and collagen synthesis, and vitamin A can counteract these effects by stimulating inflammation and epithelialisation. Other factors that impair healing include diabetes, malnutrition, zinc deficiency, ischaemia, infection and smoking. Optimising these factors before surgery is advised.

Option by option

  • A. Vitamin K

    Vitamin K acts on clotting factors.

  • B. Vitamin B12

    Vitamin B12 is not used for this purpose.

  • C. Vitamin A (correct)

    Correct. Vitamin A partially reverses steroid-induced impairment.

  • D. Vitamin D

    Vitamin D regulates calcium and bone.

Source note: Original NextPrep sample item — pending expert review. This item is original practice material awaiting independent expert review, so confirm important facts in a standard textbook.

More General Surgery questions

Questions about this General Surgery question

What is the answer to this General Surgery question?

The best answer is C, Vitamin A. Corticosteroids inhibit inflammation, fibroblast function and collagen synthesis, and vitamin A can counteract these effects by stimulating inflammation and epithelialisation.

Why is "Vitamin K" not the answer?

Vitamin K acts on clotting factors.

Why is "Vitamin B12" not the answer?

Vitamin B12 is not used for this purpose.

Why is "Vitamin D" not the answer?

Vitamin D regulates calcium and bone.

What concept does this question test?

It tests Wound healing: impairing factors in General Surgery. Other factors that impair healing include diabetes, malnutrition, zinc deficiency, ischaemia, infection and smoking. Optimising these factors before surgery is advised.

How hard is this question?

We tag it as an application question: it asks you to use a fact on a patient or a finding. The tag is our own editorial judgement, not an official difficulty rating, so read the reason for every option, not only the answer.

How should I study Wound healing: impairing factors?

Learn classic signs and eponyms alongside what they diagnose. Then use the flashcards and the other General Surgery questions on this site to test what stuck.

Is this a real NEET PG question?

No. It is an original practice item (editorial status: sample, version 1). NextPrep does not publish recalled or leaked questions, and independent faculty review of this item has not been completed yet, so confirm important facts in a standard textbook.