title: Extracorporeal shock wave treatment in nonunions of long bone fractures.
abstract: We reviewed the clinical results of the past 7 years in order to investigate the effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) in nonunions of long bone fracture. Sixty-nine patients with 69 nonunions (22 femora, 28 tibiae, 13 humeri, 5 radii, and 1 ulna) were treated with extracorporeal shock waves. The technical parameters were 6,000 to 10,000 impulses at 28 kV (0.62 mJ/mm(2) energy flux density) for the femur and tibia, 4,000 impulses at 24 kV for the humerus (0.56 mJ/mm(2) energy flux density), and 3,000 impulses at 24 kV (0.56 mJ/mm(2) energy flux density) for the radius and ulna. Sixty-six patients were followed up. The total successful rate of bony union was 75.4%. ESWT was successful in hypertrophic nonunions and seemed to have no evident effect in atrophic nonunions. We believe that extracorporeal shock wave therapy may be a good choice for nonunions of long bone fracture especially in hypertrophic nonunions.
authors.affiliation: Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Dong-Yang
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Dong-Quan
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Xiao-Lin
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D017102:Fracture Healing; D005599:Fractures, Ununited / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D019220:High-Energy Shock Waves; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D055815:Young Adult