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Orthopedic surgery patients may benefit from vitamin D testing before their procedure

Category: Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment

Individuals who are struggling with orthopedic conditions may want to consider seeking a vitamin test before they proceed with surgery. A recent study has found that many of these individuals may have low levels of the nutrient, which could make healing after surgery more difficult.

Researchers from the Hospital for special Surgery in New York examined the medical records of 723 patients who received surgery for orthopedic conditions between January 2007 and March 2008. They found that 43 percent of patients had insufficient levels of the nutrient, while 40 percent met the clinical standards for deficiency.

Dr Joseph Lane, who led the study, said that low levels of vitamin D may interfere with bone and tissue reformation following surgery, which can lead to poorer outcomes.

"If you put people on 2,000-4,000 [milligrams] of vitamin D based on what their deficient value was, you can usually get them corrected in four to six weeks, which is when you are really going to need the vitamin D," he said. "If you are really aggressive right before surgery, you can correct deficient levels quickly, but you have to correct it, measure it, and then act on it."