title: Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound: effects on nonunions.
abstract: To study the efficacy of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (US), or LIPUS, of 85 treated nonunion cases with a minimum fracture age of 8 months, 67 cases met the study criteria. These were: no surgical intervention during 4 months before US treatment and radiographically ceased healing for 3 months before US. In a self-paired control study, the mean fracture age of the 67 patients was 39 +/- 6.2 months. After a daily 20-min US treatment at home for an average of 168 days, 85% (57 of 67) of the nonunion cases were clinically and radiographically healed. The study did not include any cases that were malaligned, grossly instable, actively infected or that had extensive bone loss. The results demonstrate that the specific US can effect heal rates similar to those achieved by surgical means, without the associated risks and complications, and to those achieved by electrical bone growth stimulation or by extracorporeal shock-wave therapy.
authors.affiliation: Orthopädische Klinik Tegernsee, Tegernsee, Germany. dieter.gebauer@lva-landshut.de
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gebauer
authors.forename: Edgar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mayr
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orthner
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Ryaby
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005592:Fracture Fixation; D005599:Fractures, Ununited / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D014159:Transducers; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014464:Ultrasonic Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*