Question

63 year old male presented to your office for some nutritional support pre- and post- hip surgery. Your client is scheduled in 6 weeks for a right hip replacement. He is currently on lisinopril to control his hypertension. He takes 2000 mg of Nature's Bounty fish oil that he purchased from CVS. His doctor did not recommend anything specific but he feels he could have a successful surgery and faster recovery with some diet and nutritional support. He is 6' 0" tall, 224 lbs, and is a non-smoker and does not drink alcohol.

Make dietary and/or nutritional supplement recommendations for this client for pre- and post surgery. (include dosing and length of support). In addition, for any supplement recommendations pick specific products and list their ingredients and dosing you would recommend instead of making a list of individual nutrients.

Answer 1

Good nutrition is essential to recover from surgeries. Eating a well-balanced diet helps to improve the condition of the patient after surgery.    PRE-OP DIETARY GUIDELINES: A) Eat high protein diet : atleast 1-2weeks prior to the surgery to about 65-100grams per day. This protein helps to provide building blocks to muscles, bones and immune system. B) Eat fruits and vegetables: Add fruits and vegetables (specifically green leafy vegetables) at most meals and snacks.It helps to repair muscles, bones and cartilages because they contain loads of vitamins,minerals and magnesium. C) Include whole grains: Enough intake of whole grainsgives the body all the vitamin B to reduce stress. D) Consider reducing additional sugars,caffeine and alcohol from the diet. These create more stress on the body and remove nutrients from the body. POST-OP SURGERY DIETARY GUIDELINES: A) Eat smaller meals if appetite has reduced. B) Eat more proteins: Proteins are high in meat, fish, eggs, nuts , diary products and cooked dried beans. Adequate protein intake helps to repair and build healthy tissues. In addition to this, it helps for the healing process. C) Adequate intake of calcium, is an important factor to built and maintain bones, muscle movements, to remove blood clots and to send messages to nerve cells. D) Vitamin C helps the body to heal wounds and to form bones. E) Drink plenty of water ( 8 glasses aily ) and fiber diet to avoid constipation. NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT RECOMMENDATION FOR PRE AND POST OPERATIVE HIP SURGERY: A) Mutivitamin during the pre-operative period is recommended as daily dosage which helps the body to get ready for the post-operative tissue repair. B) Vitamin A is an effective peri-operative nutritional supplement enhances wound repair and wound healing. Daily intake of 25,000IU of vitamin A before and after surgery helps in immune depletion. C) Vitamin C is essential for the synthesis of collagen, proteglycans and the organic components of the intracellular matrix of tissues such as bones, skin,capillary walls and other connective tissues. Taking high dosage ( 1-2grams) of vitamin C for a 2week period before surgery helps in healing process. D) Zinc: Perioperative supplementation of 15-30milligrams daily is recommended topromote zinc deficiency. E) Glucosamine: Oral glucosamine ( 1500mg daily) taken before and after the surgery helps in healing the wound. F) Glutamine: is an aminoacid helps in reducing the healing time during the preoperative period. G) Arginine : also an aminoacid aids in infection prevention, immune function and post-operative healing. H) Protein: daily consumption of 8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight is essential for wound healing.