Octreotide acetate is a long-acting somatostatin analogue with protean physiologic effects. It is used primarily as an inhibitory paracrine hormone to treat a variety of medical and surgical disorders, including endocrine tumors and several gastrointestinal hypersecretory states. Because of octreotide's known inhibition of multiple trophic and anabolic hormones, we suspected that it may have deleterious effects on wound healing. Twenty-four rats were randomized to one of three groups: control, steroid (a negative control), or octreotide. Dorsal midline incisions were made and closed primarily. Wound-breaking strength measurements were performed 7 days later. The mean peak load (+/- standard error of the mean) for each group was calculated: control = 754 +/- 89 g; steroid = 378 +/- 32 g; and octreotide = 427 +/- 41 g. The difference between the control group and each of the other groups was statistically significant with P < 0.030. We conclude that octreotide has significant adverse effects on wound healing in the rat model and that these effects are comparable in magnitude to those caused by steroids.