Vitamin C intake after foot and ankle surgery reduces complex regional pain syndrome

Vitamin C has been reported to be efficient in preventing complex regional pain syndrome in elective scheduled surgery. Few authors explored this efficiency in foot and ankle surgery. One such research conducted at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Centre Hospitalier EpiCURA, Sites Hornu/Baudour, Hainaut, Belgium found out that taking 1 g per day of vitamin C during 40 days after a foot or ankle surgery reduces the risk of complex regional pain syndrome.

The research has been published in the International Orthopedics Journal.

Jacques Hernigou and colleagues evaluated the efficacy of vitamin C in preventing this complication after foot and ankle surgeries for both trauma and elective surgery.

The authors included a total of 329 patients in the study and they conducted a prospective randomized study on the efficiency of vitamin C (one group with and one without vitamin C) to prevent complex regional pain syndrome risk in patients operated in our institution on foot or ankle surgery.

The incidence of complex regional pain syndrome after foot and ankle surgery was evaluated in both groups; the diagnostic of complex regional pain syndrome was made using the Budapest criteria associated with three-phase bone scintigraphy.

The following findings were highlighted-

1. Among the 329 patients included in the study 232 were women and 97 men.
2. 121 patients were included in the vitamin C group and 208 in the control group (without vitamin C).
3. Vitamin C was statistically linked with a decreased risk of CRPS (OR 0.19; CI 95% from 0.05 to 0.8; p = 0.021).
4. Alcoholism and cast immobilization were increased risks factors of CRPS (respectively p = 0.001 and p = 0.034).

Hence, it was concluded that an intake of 1 g per day of vitamin C during 40 days after a foot or ankle surgery reduces the risk of complex regional pain syndrome.

For further reading log in to:

Hernigou J, Labadens A, Ghistelinck B, Bui Quoc E, Maes R, Bhogal H, Callewier A, Bath O, Chahidi E, Safar A. Vitamin C prevention of complex regional pain syndrome after foot and ankle surgery: a prospective randomized study of three hundred and twenty nine patients. Int Orthop. 2021 Aug 4.