Compound high-energy limb fractures with delayed union: our experience with adjuvant ultrasound stimulation (exogen)

The use of low intensity pulsed ultrasound accelerates cortical and cancellous bone fracture healing. Seventeen patients with eighteen high-energy fractures of the long bones were treated with low intensity pulsed ultrasound supplementation to surgical skeletal stabilization and tissue flaps. Sixteen fractures were healed within 13-52 weeks after starting ultrasound supplementation despite severe soft-tissue injuries and varying degrees of tissue loss. This method may be useful in the combined treatment of high-energy limb injuries. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.