Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Postoperative Outcomes in Cardiac Surgery Patients: A Systematic Review

Abstract Background  Vitamin D deficiency is a very common occurrence in cardiac patients. It has been proved that cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass accelerate the deficiency further. The postoperative outcomes of patients deteriorate in the presence of vitamin D deficiency. Perioperative supplementation of vitamin D is the only solution to the problem. Hence, the present systematic review was conducted to derive the efficacy and safety of vitamin D supplementation on postoperative outcomes in cardiac surgery patients. Method  Publications over duration of last 10 years was searched from different database and web sites. The data from full-text research articles were analyzed for the effect on different postoperative outcomes and side effects. Result  Eight randomized control trials were retrieved on the effect of perioperative vitamin D supplementation in cardiac surgery patients and their postoperative outcomes. Six articles (75%) were found to be in favor of improvement in postoperative outcome. Two articles (25%) did not find any difference of outcome between the control and treatment group. All the studies observed the restoration of vitamin D to normal and no adverse effects from supplementation. Conclusion  Perioperative vitamin D supplementation improves the postoperative outcomes after cardiac surgery. It is effective and safe to supplement vitamin D in cardiac surgery patients.