Vitamin D Trajectory after Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Method for Quick Correction in Deficient Patients

ABSTRACT

Background@#It has been widely reported that vitamin D (vit D) affects preoperative, postoperative, and long-term outcomes after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Our aim was to study vit D trajectory after TKA and compare effects of oral versus intramuscular (IM) supplementation in insufficient patients and assess its effects on immediate functional recovery in the first 2 weeks after TKA. @*Methods@#Vit D levels 0.05) in all groups. Changes in TUG test showed a significant increase in group II (48.5 seconds) when compared to group I (35.5 seconds) at POD 3 (p 0.05) between group III and group I. @*Conclusions@#We found that vit D insufficient patients can be rapidly supplemented on the morning of surgery with a large dose of oral cholecalciferol 600,000 IU, and the effect was consistent over 2 weeks after surgery. Orally supplemented vit D insufficient patients also showed functional recovery comparable to vit D sufficient patients. IM supplementation increased vit D levels only at 2 weeks and the rise was significantly lower than oral supplementation. Interestingly, approximately 25% of vit D sufficient patients who were not supplemented after TKA became insufficient in the first 2 weeks postoperatively.