Bone health and orthopedic surgery

Abstract

Traditionally, orthopedists have not evaluated the quality of bone prior to orthopedic procedures. Nonetheless, in recent years an assortment of pharmacological agents targeting bone quality have been developed and are in common use, mainly in the treatment of osteoporosis. Growing evidence suggests that the maximization of bone quality and health perioperatively will result in better surgical outcomes. This chapter reviews current knowledge concerning this clinical experience, examining specifically vitamin D, its putative role in orthopedic surgery; the use of various medications in the setting of total joint arthroplasty, in spinal fusion, and in the fracture repair is presented.