Do 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels Correlate With Fracture Complications?

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Traumatology
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Optimizing patient recovery after orthopaedic trauma is crucial.
• Vitamin D plays a role in bone health and healing.
• The impact of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels on postoperative outcomes in trauma patients is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between serum 25(OH)D levels and postoperative complications.
• To determine if 25(OH)D levels influence the rate of fracture reoperation in orthopaedic trauma patients receiving supplementation.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective case series of 201 orthopaedic trauma patients (≥18 years) with available initial and repeat 25(OH)D levels.
• Patients received daily vitamin D3 (1000 IU) and calcium (1500 mg).
• Vitamin D deficient/insufficient patients received weekly ergocalciferol (50,000 IU) until normalization or fracture healing.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in initial or repeat 25(OH)D levels was found between patients with and without fracture healing complications (P = 0.92 and P = 0.91, respectively).
• No significant difference in initial or repeat 25(OH)D levels was observed between patients who did or did not require repeat orthopaedic surgery (P = 0.62 and P = 0.18, respectively).
• No significant difference in initial or repeat 25(OH)D levels was found for nonorthopaedic surgery requirements (P = 0.66 and P = 0.89, respectively).

Conclusions:

• Serum 25(OH)D levels did not demonstrate a significant association with fracture healing complications.
• Vitamin D status did not significantly affect the need for repeat orthopaedic surgery or nonorthopaedic surgery in this patient cohort.
• Current vitamin D and calcium supplementation protocols did not alter the relationship between 25(OH)D levels and surgical outcomes.