Vitamin D Deficiency Rampant in Patients for Orthopedic Surgery, Damaging Recovery
18 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
I read an alarming article that talks about how an increasing number of patients are having slower recovery rates from orthopedic surgery because of vitamin D deficiencies. Researchers from the Hospital for Special Surgeries found that 50% of people that come in for orthopedic surgery have a low recovery rate because of the vitamin D deficiency.
Dr. Joseph Lane, M.D., professor of Orthopedic Surgery and chief of the Metabolic Bone Disease Service at HSS, who led the study, says that, “people undergoing a procedure that involves the bone or the muscle should correct their vitamin D if they want to have an earlier faster, better, result.”
For their study, investigators conducted a retrospective chart review of 723 patients who were scheduled for orthopedic surgery between January 2007 and March 2008 at HSS. Problems were more prevalent in younger patients, men and individuals with dark skin — African Americans and Hispanics.
The bottom line is that if we want to heal faster from orthopedic surgery, we need to make sure we are getting our Vitamin D!
