London British doctors have developed a new ultrasound treatment to heal broken bones, which they claim would help avoid the need for surgery on fractures that wont join up.
People suffering from stubborn bone fractures once faced a stark choice – have painful surgery, followed by months of rehabilitation, or face a possible lifetime of pain and immobility.
Now, a non- invasive treatment using ultrasound shockwaves is revolutionising the way these breaks are healed.
In most cases fractures heal naturally, usually with the help of a splint or cast to keep the bone in place, over a period of weeks or months. But, in few cases, a gap remains between the two broken ends, usually a result of damage to the blood supply to the bones or infection. These are called non- union fractures.
In order for healing to occur, the gap needs to be filled in. Without intervention, patients will be in constant pain and unable to bear weight on limbs, say the doctors.
Any break which hasnt demonstrated progressive healing for three months is classified as non- union, leading British newspaper Daily Mailquoted Mark Phillips, senior orthopaedic consultant at Kings College London as saying.
The Exogen Ultrasound Bone Healing System is a battery- powered device roughly the size of a mobile phone that emits low intensity soundwaves through the skin to the fracture. These pulses stimulate the bone to heal.
