It has long been established the vitamin D leads to stronger bones. That’s why vitamin D levels are important to monitor before, and after surgery.
Numerous studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency can halt bone growth following bunion surgery.
Bunion surgeries can be challenging to perform and after you spend so much time in the OR getting it perfect, it is frustrating when a patient doesn’t heal rapidly. A deficiency in Vitamin D is one of the nutritional deficits that can seriously slow osteotomy healing. Being from the great white North (Minnesota), an inadequate amount of sun exposure is endemic in my patients.
In our office, every patient scheduling surgery gets a pre-operative nutritional supplementation recommendation. We recommend Vitamin A in the water-soluble formation, Vitamin C, and Zinc to help wound healing. I also recommend Vitamin D for bone healing and a routine multi-vitamin.
We are considering encouraging protein supplementation as I have identified protein malnutrition as a source of healing failure in some patients.
Related Sources:
Podiatrytoday.com
