e-med-isral-ribbon

אורתופדיה-פיזיותרפיה

Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound effective for nonhealing fractures

By Megan Rauscher

WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) – Mounting evidence indicates that low-intensity pulsed ultrasound leads to successful healing of most long-standing fractures that fail to heal despite surgical intervention (see Reuters Health report, February 11, 1999).

The latest report is the work of Dr. Peter A. Nolte of the University of Amsterdam and colleagues. They evaluated the efficacy of low-intensity ultrasound in 29 patients with established nonunions of the tibia, femur, radius/ulna, scaphoid, humerus, metatarsal or clavicle.

They defined nonunion as a fracture that had failed to unite by 6 months post-fracture, or one that had evidence of no healing or progression of healing for at least 3 months before the start of ultrasound treatment. A fracture line had to be clearly visible in two orthogonal views to qualify.

Treatment consisted of daily 20-minute applications of low-intensity ultrasound performed by the patient at home via a portable device.

In The Journal of Trauma for October, Dr. Nolte and colleagues report that 25 of the 29 nonunions healed in an average of 22 weeks, for an overall healing rate of 86%. In adjusted analyses, smoking was the only factor that significantly reduced healing rates. Three of the four patients who failed ultrasound treatment were active smokers, a finding that "confirms the negative effect of smoking on bone healing," the researchers say.

In comments to Reuters Health, Dr. Nolte said ultrasound "is an alternative treatment option in patients with a nonunion who cannot have or refused to have an operative treatment. However, the ultrasound treatment cannot correct a deformity and is not indicated in patients with a large defect nonunion."

Editorialist Dr. Bruce H. Ziran of the University of Pittsburgh looks forward to continued studies, hopefully in a "larger and…more homogenous series of patients that may better delineate the indications and limitations of ultrasound" in nonhealing fractures.

J Trauma 2001;51:693-703.

0 תגובות

השאירו תגובה

רוצה להצטרף לדיון?
תרגישו חופשי לתרום!

כתיבת תגובה

מידע נוסף לעיונך

כתבות בנושאים דומים

© ‫ אי-מד שיווק רפואי בע”מ
 כל הזכויות שמורות
09-765-8233 

 

הנך גולש/ת באתר כאורח/ת.

במידה והנך מנוי את/ה מוזמן/ת לבצע כניסה מזוהה וליהנות מגישה לכל התכנים המיועדים למנויים
עדיין לא מנוי/ה ונמנה/ת על הצוות הרפואי? מוזמן/ת לבצע הרשמה כאן
להרשמה לאתר
להמשך גלישה כאורח סגור חלון זה