Abstract
Changes in serum magnesium, copper and zinc values were evaluated in spinal fusion patients at four monitorings. For magnesium and copper individually, a significant difference was found between the mean values at each monitoring (p<0.05), whereas the changes of zinc values between four monitorings were insignificant. There was no statistical difference between the changes of each trace element values and gender, age, operative time, intraoperative blood loss, blood replacement, number of the vertebral levels fused, and antibiotic type used.
As a result, magnesium can be suggested to be more important than the other two elements in the postoperative period. Alterations of serum magnesium, copper, and zinc values do not have any correlation with the fusion of the spinal column, either with the width of the fused area or operative time and blood loss. This study cannot confirm the exact reason for this entity and the etiology remains speculative. There is no need for magnesium, copper, or zinc supplementation during the surgical period for the patients. It will be worthy to evaluate the patients who were sent to the intensive care unit after spinal surgery and compare their results with the other intensive care patients.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. Al-Bader, J. T. Christienson, F. Simonet, H. Abul, H. Dashti, and M. Schmuziger, Inflammatory response and oligo-element alterations following cardiopulmonary bypass in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, Cardiovasc. Surg. 6(4), 406–414 (1998).
M. M. Berger, Role of trace elements and vitamins in peri-operative nutrition, Ann. Fr. Anesth. Reanim. 14(Suppl), 82–94 (1995).
D. B. Milne, Trace elements, in Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry, 3rd ed., C. A. Burtis, E. R. Ashwood, ed., WB Saunders, Philadelphia, pp. 1029–1055 (1999).
B. Chernow, S. Bamberger, M. Stoiko, M. Vadnais, S. Mills, V. Hoellerich, et al., Hypomagnesemia in patients in postoperative intensive care unit, Chest 95(2), 391–397 (1989).
D. Juan, Clinical review: the clinical importance of hypomagnesemia, Surgery 91(5), 510–517 (1982).
G. Lum, Hypomagnesemia in acute and chronic care patient populations, Clin. Chem. 97(6), 827–830 (1992).
R. Whang, Magnesium deficiency: pathogenesis, prevalance and clinical implications, Am. J. Med. 82(Suppl 3A), 24–29 (1987).
H. M. Place, R. J. Enzenauer, B. J. Muff, P. J. Ziporin, and C. W. Brown, Hypomagnesemia in postoperative spine fusion patients, Spine 21(19), 2268–2272 (1996).
E. T. Wong, R. K. Rude, F. R. Singer, and S. T. Shaw, A high prevalence of hypomagnesemia and hypermagnesemia in hospitalized patients, Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 79(3), 348–352 (1983).
C. Çoker, B. Ersöz, S. Habif, N. Çetiner, and Y. Gültekin, Elemental analysis of serum inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy in comparison to atomic absorbtion spectroscopy, Turk. J. Med. Sci. 26, 553–557 (1996).
E. M. Gindler and A. H. Dwayne, Colorimetric determination with bound “calmagite” of magnesium in human serum, Clin. Chem. 17, 662 (1971).
B. Dawson-Saunders and G. R. Trapp, Comparing three or more means, in Basic and Clinical Biostatistics, B. Dawson-Saunders and G. R. Trapp, eds., Prentice-Hall International, London, p. 139 (1994).
S. A. Glantz, Experiments when each subject receives more than one treatment, in Primer of Biostatistics, S. A. Glantz, ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 299–311 (1992).
J. Honegger, M. Buchfelder, H. Rupprecht, and W. Schwarz, Effect of neurosurgical interventions on serum levels of the essential trace elements zinc and copper—a peri-operative study, Z. Exp. Chir. Transplant. Kuntliche Organe 23(4), 236–240 (1990).
R. B. Sawyer, M. A. Drew, M. H. Gesink, and K. C. Sawyer, Postoperative magnesium metabolism, Arch. Surg. 100, 343–348 (1970).
M. R. England, G. Gordon, M. Salem, and B. Chernow, Magnesium administration and dysrhytmias after cardiac surgery, JAMA 268(17), 2395–2402 (1992).
D. B. Milne, Assessment of copper nutritional status, Clin. Chem. 40(8), 1479–1484 (1994).
F. Y. Leung, Trace elements in parenteral micronutrition, Clin. Biochem. 28(6), 561–566 (1996).
A. Okada, Y. Takagi, R. Nezu, and S. Lee, Zinc in clinical surgery—a research review, Jpn. J. Surg. 20(6), 635–644 (1990).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tatari, H., İşlekel, H., Altekin, E. et al. Serum magnesium, copper, and zinc alterations following spinal fusion. Biol Trace Elem Res 80, 33–42 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:80:1:33
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:80:1:33