Comparison of Calcemia in Pre- and Postoperative Orthopedic Surgery Patients

Aims and background: Hypocalcemia is not an unusual laboratory finding in patients hospitalized for various critical illnesses and has also been reported during their hospital stay.Multiple factors have been reported to cause hypocalcemia in patients before hospitalization.Elevated serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels indicate increased osteoblastic activity, which occurs during bone healing after fractures.Post-surgical laboratory results may indicate calcemia conditions, primarily hypocalcemia.However, this is rarely reported, and most cases are asymptomatic, requiring no special medical attention, except in surgeries such as total thyroidectomy.In this study, we investigated the incidence of calcemia in postoperative orthopedic cases and its association with ALP levels in patients who underwent orthopedic surgeries, particularly for fractures.Materials and methods: This is a prospective study in which serum calcium levels were measured for 25 patients both before and 24 hours after surgery.These levels were then evaluated and compared.The odds ratio and mean standard deviation for the reduction in serum calcium were used to assess the significance.Results: We found that the serum calcium levels were significantly lower after surgery (p < 0.005); however, the mean reduction levels were found to be not significant (p > 0.05).Conclusion: Incidences of hypocalcemia post-surgery are common and usually do not require special medical attention.However, timely monitoring of serum calcium levels is essential.Clinical significance: Hypocalcemia in postoperative cases is common and does not require special medical attention.However, timely monitoring of serum calcium levels is crucial, as it often requires clinical correlation for proper medical management.