The Role of Amino Acid Supplementation in Orthopaedic Surgery

The nutritional status of patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery has started to garner increasing attention in published literature. Notable previous evidence has demonstrated the negative effect of malnutrition on outcomes after orthopaedic procedures. Although there has been increased recognition of malnutrition as a risk factor for suboptimal outcomes, the use of nutritional supplementation to mitigate those risks is not well understood. The purpose of this review of most current literature on the topic is to introduce and elucidate the role of amino acid supplementation as a countermeasure to muscle loss and improvement of nutritional status in orthopaedic patients to improve results and outcomes after orthopaedic surgery.