Novel fracture improvements via Vitamin D supplementation

Abstract

Background: Distal radius fracture (DRF) is one of the most common upper limb fractures, which is associated with osteoporosis and vitamin D deficiency, especially in old adults. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplementary vitamin D on grip strength, pinch power, pain intensity, and DASH score in post-menopausal females after distal radius fractures. Methods: Fifty-two post-menopausal women with distal radius fractures were enrolled in a randomized single-blinded multicenter trial from January 2015 to January 2016 (IRCT registration number: IRCT20160830029603N7). Patients with pre-operative serum vitamin D level of 30 to 100 ng/mL were enrolled in the study. Patients were divided to two randomized groups including groups with and without supplementation of vitamin D [25 women in intervention group (50,000 IU supplementary vitamin D, every 4 weeks for 6 months) and 27 women in placebo group]. Grip strength, pinch power, pain intensity, and DASH score pre-operatively and at three and six months after the surgery were measured; the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. Results: The subjects’ mean age in vitamin D supplemented and placebo group was 57.98 ± 7.15 and 59.15 ± 8.03, respectively. The mean grip strength of patients in vitamin D supplemented group was significantly higher than the placebo group on both the third and sixth month (P = 0.011 and P = 0.003, respectively). The pinch power was significantly increased on the sixth month compared to the third month in patients revised vitamin D supplementation (1.32 ± 2.14 and 0.67 ± 0.96 respectively, P = 0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of mean VAS and DASH scores at the end of the study (P = 241, P = 0.665, respectively). Conclusions: Vitamin D supplementation was significantly helpful in improving grip strength recovery in post-menopausal women after distal radius fracture, however, no significant differences were observed in supplementation of vitamin D on pinch power and pain intensity after distal radius fractures.