Conclusions This systemic review shows that preoperative interventions can be beneficial in improving wound healing and scar formation .
In selected cases , wound healing was found to benefit from a higher preoperative body temperature , topical vitamin E application , and low patient stress levels .
Background Poor wound healing and scar formation  remain critical problems in daily surgical practice .
Generally , most attention is paid to intra- and postoperative interventions to improve wound healing after surgery , while preoperative interventions remain unsatisfactorily explored .
Objectives In this systematic review , the available literature on the beneficial effects of preoperative interventions on wound healing and scar formation have been summarized and compared .
Effect of pantothenic acid and ascorbic acid supplementation on human skin wound healing process. A double-blind, prospective and randomized trial.
This study aim ed at testing human skin wound healing improvement by a 21-day supplementation of 1.0 g ascorbic acid ( AA ) and 0.2 g pantothenic acid ( PA ) .  49 patients undergoing surgery for tattoos , by the successive resections procedure , entered a double-blind , prospect i ve and r and omized study . Tests performed on both skin and scars determined : hydroxyproline concentrations , number of fibroblasts , trace element contents and mechanical properties . In the 18 supplemented patients , it was shown that in skin ( day 8) Fe increased ( p < 0.05 ) and Mn decreased ( p < 0.05 ) ; in scars ( day 21 ) , Cu ( p = 0.07 ) and Mn ( p < 0.01 ) decreased , and Mg ( p < 0.05 ) increased ; the mechanical properties of scars in group A were significantly correlated to their contents in Fe , Cu and Zn , whereas no correlation was shown in group B. In blood ,  AA increased after surgery with supplementation , whereas it decreased in controls . Although no major improvement of the would healing process could be documented in this study , our results suggest that the benefit of AA and PA supplementation could be due to the variations of the trace elements , as they are correlated to mechanical properties of the scars
Conclusions This systemic review shows that preoperative interventions can be beneficial in improving wound healing and scar formation .
In selected cases , wound healing was found to benefit from a higher preoperative body temperature , topical vitamin E application , and low patient stress levels .
Background Poor wound healing and scar formation  remain critical problems in daily surgical practice .
Generally , most attention is paid to intra- and postoperative interventions to improve wound healing after surgery , while preoperative interventions remain unsatisfactorily explored .
Objectives In this systematic review , the available literature on the beneficial effects of preoperative interventions on wound healing and scar formation have been summarized and compared .