Vitamin D deficiency might affect recovery from knee surgery

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Could a vitamin D deficiency be linked to a more painful recovery from knee surgery? A study published online May 5, 2021, by the journal Menopause says it’s possible.

The study looked at 226 women recruited from 2017 to 2019. Researchers divided women into two groups based on their vitamin D levels before undergoing surgery. One group had normal vitamin D levels (at or above 30 ng/mL); the other group was defined as vitamin D deficient (below 30 ng/mL). The women were tracked to see how well they did after surgery. While there was no difference found between the groups in how successful the surgery was in improving knee function, there were differences in how much recuperation pain the women experienced. Women with low blood levels of vitamin D were more likely to have moderate to severe pain during recovery than women with normal vitamin D levels. This does not mean that taking additional vitamin D would decrease pain after knee surgery, but the findings add to the growing list of conditions other than bone health related to low vitamin D levels.

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