Extracorporeal shock wave treatment in nonunions of long bone fractures.
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.
Xu
Zhi-Hong
ZH
Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Jiang
Qing
Q
Chen
Dong-Yang
DY
Xiong
Jin
J
Shi
Dong-Quan
DQ
Yuan
Tao
T
Zhu
Xiao-Lin
XL
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