• Sanjay Meena, Pankaj Sharma, Shreesh Kumar Gangary, and Buddhadev Chowdhury.
• Department of Orthopaedics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, 110029, India, sanjaymeena@hotmail.com.
• Eur J Orthop Surg Tr. 2015 May 1; 25 (4): 637-41.

BackgroundComplex regional pain syndrome is a well-known complication after distal radius fracture with incidence ranging from 10.5 to 37 %. Some studies recommend the use of vitamin C to prevent complex regional pain syndrome. The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of vitamin C in prevention of CRPS.MethodsWe searched the PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane library databases for randomized controlled trial (RCT) and comparative studies reporting use of vitamin C to prevent distal radius fracture. Dichotomous variable was presented as risk ratio with 95 % confidence intervals.ResultsWe obtained 220 articles from the database search. After the exclusion of duplicates, unrelated articles, letter to editor and editorials, we found four articles relevant to our topic. Meta-analysis of the CRPS incidence revealed that the incidence of CRPS was significantly lower in the vitamin C group [RD 0.41 (0.19-0.92), P = 0.03]. There was moderate to high heterogeneity in the studies included I (2) = 63 %).ConclusionsOur analysis showed a significant reduction in prevalence of CRPS with the use of vitamin C. Further high-quality RCTs with standard dosages and common diagnostic criteria are needed to be able to deliver solid conclusions.

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