Ascorbic acid requirements in postoperative patients.

The postoperative ascorbic acid requirements of 63 surgical patients were assessed by measurements of buffy layer leukocyte ascorbic acid and the ascorbic acid content of leukocytes. There was a significant reduction in ascorbic acid levels following operation. The postoperative changes were unrelated to the extent of surgical trauma or the volume of blood transfused during operation, but there was a significant correlation between postoperative ascorbic acid measurements and white blood counts. It appears that postoperative leukocytosis and release by the bone marrow of leukocytes with a low ascorbic acid content may partly account for the postoperative changes in buffy layer and leukocyte ascorbic acid measurements. However, surgical operations were followed by an authentic increase in ascorbic acid requirements, and there was a 42 per cent reduction in circulating leukocyte ascorbic acid levels on the third postoperative day. The findings of this study create an argument for the use of ascorbic acid supplements in surgical patients, although it is unlikely that postoperative changes in leukocyte ascorbic acid have pathologic significance in wound repair.