Stimulation of Fracture Healing: Osteobiolog Bone Stimulators, and Beyond

摘要

By 2020, disability from traffic accidents, the major cause of fractures, is estimated to rank in the top three of all-cause disability from disease. Accelerated urbanization and industrialization in India and China, which represent 40% of the world's population, have resulted in an alarming increase in traumatic injuries. A vehicular accident is reported every 3 minutes and a death every 10 minutes on these roads. For every death, three patients survive and live with disability. With the increasing burden of trauma (and therefore frauma-related fractures), identifying best evidence in novel therapeutics to enhance healing remains paramount. The spectrum of therapies includes noninvasive devices, locally applied biologies, systemically administered injectables, and future promise of nanotechnology and gene therapy. The evidence for fracture healing technologies will only be as valid as the primary research. Optimal evidence will require improved methods in the design and execution of fracture healing trials. Developing novel outcome measures to assess fracture healing and overcoming the challenges of multicenter randomized frials require a parallel effort.