Treatment of recalcitrant non-union with a capacitively coupled electrical field. A preliminary report.
Twenty-two well established non-unions in twenty patients were treated with a capacitively coupled electrical signal (sine wave, sixty kilohertz, five volts peak to peak) that was applied non-invasively through stainless-steel capacitor plates placed on the skin surface overlying the approximate site of the non-union. The average age of the eleven female and nine male patients in this series was 38.4 years, and the average duration of the twenty-two non-unions was 3.3 years. Seventeen of the non-unions were labeled recalcitrant, meaning that they had failed to heal after either previous bone-grafting or another type of electrical stimulation, or both. Five of the non-unions had not been previously treated. Seventeen (77.3 per cent) of the non-unions achieved solid osseous union after an average of 22.5 weeks of treatment with capacitive coupling. The results in this small series were not affected by the non-union being recalcitrant, by the fact that one patient bore full weight on the extremity in a cast, by the presence of osteomyelitis, or by the presence of remaining metallic internal-fixation devices in the bone. Since capacitive coupling is non-invasive, involves portable equipment, allows full weight-bearing on the lower extremity in a cast, is easy to apply, and does not require precise localization of the capacitor plates, it has distinct advantages over other methods of treating non-union with electricity.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005596:Fractures, Closed / Q000150:complications; D005597:Fractures, Open / Q000150:complications; D005599:Fractures, Ununited / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged