Impact Of Breast Feeding Versus Formula Feeding On Surgical Wound Healing In Infants During The First Three Months Of Age

Breast milk has antimicrobial and healing properties that actually can help the wound healing. Surgical infants are at a much higher risk for malnutrition as a result of increased metabolic demands from surgery, nutrient losses, and sepsis. Many methods of feeding are used postoperatively for infants; oral feeding (breast or formula milk), enteral, or parenteral feeding. Aim of this work was to assess the effect of breast-feeding versus formula feeding on surgical wound healing in infant during the first three months. Methods and materials: Comparative descriptive research design was used to carry out this study. It comprised 100 infants aged less than 3 months, they were divided into two equal groups as the following: Group 1: received breast milk feeding, Group 2: received formula milk feeding. Tools were developed by the researcher, after that the researcher fulfill assessment sheet and took anthropometric measurements for each infant then the photographs were taken by the researcher on the 7th postoperative day and reassessed for second time on the 14th day. Results: Out of the included breast-fed infants, 78 % were boys, while 22% were girls. Also in the formula-fed infants, the males were 64%, while the females were 36 %. As a general statistically significant difference was found between anthropometric measurements. The majority (58%) of artificially fed infants' wounds were inflamed, while less than one third (30%) of breast-fed infants' wounds were inflamed during the 7th day. on the other hand 38% of artificially fed infants' wounds were inflamed, while only 8% of breast-fed infants' wounds were inflamed during the 14th day. Conclusion, breast-fed infants have rapid sound healing, less wound inflammation, higher anthropometric measurements, receiving more number of daily feeding, fewer disturbances in urinary tract and gastrointestinal tract and had normal laboratory results than artificially fed infants.