Breast cancer patients who were vitamin D deficient before a mastectomy were about three times as likely to report moderate to severe pain in the first 24 hours after surgery, and they used more opioid medication, according to a 184-patient study published online in May in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.
The study's design sets clear limits on what it can show. It was observational and conducted at a single hospital, so it cannot prove that low vitamin D caused patients to feel more pain or use more opioids. The researchers acknowledged that limitation.
