Does Vitamin C Level Effect Postoperative Analgesia in Orthognathic Surgery: a Preliminary Study?

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a water-soluble vitamin that has many functions include antioxidant, neuroprotective, neuromodulator and co-factor for various enzymes or chemical reactions. Primarily ascorbic acid is the most potent non-enzymatic antioxidant agent in an extracellular fluid which is crucial for defense against oxidative stress. Recent clinical studies have shown that trauma or surgery may lead to oxidative stress and plasma vitamin C level decreases due to body demand that most likely caused by oxidative stress.

Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. One of the major purposes in the management of post-operative pain is to minimize the dose of medications to reduce side effects while providing adequate analgesia.

In orthopedic surgery and management of postherpetic neuralgia oral vitamin C supplementation significantly reduced pain. However, the decrease in vitamin C concentration,the effects on antinociception and postoperative pain are not fully understood.

In this study, investigators aimed to compare pre and post-operative blood plasma levels of vitamin C after orthognathic surgery and investigate a correlation between post-operative analgesia requirement and vitamin C levels without vitamin C administration.