Electrotherapy is proving very effective in treating this painful problem. The procedure was tested in 400 patients who had fractures that hadnt healed in more than two years, despite bone grafts. Within twenty-four weeks, 85 percent of the bones had healed.
The procedure employs a device called bone-growth stimulators to generate electrical currents that cause new bone material to grow over the break. Although researchers arent exactly sure why the technique works, they think that the electrical jolts may rouse bone-producing cells into action.
The results dont seem to be affected by either the number of previous bone grafts undergone by the patient or by the length of time the bone has been broken. Bone formation usually begins within twelve weeks after electrotherapy has started. Each treatment takesunder twenty minutes and can be performed ina doctors offer under local anesthetic. The cost is a fraction of what it is for bone graft surgery.
The healing also appears to be permanent. Patients who were treated with electrotherapy in its experimental stages have not reported any post treatment difficulties.
There are three types of stimulators licensed for use in the United States. Two of the systems involve implanting electrodes in the bone. In one method they remain permanently, in the other, theyre removed after treatment is completed. The third method uses coils placed outside the cast. The coils generate an electromagnetic field, and the treatment takes place while the patient sleeps.
Specialists foresee the use of electrostimulators also in treating bone infection. Electrotherapy has also shown some promise in treating osteoporosis, a condition that causes the bones of older persons to become brittle ad break easily.
Robin Westen is ThirdAges medical reporter. Check for her daily updates. She is the author of Ten Days to Detox: How to Look and Feel a Decade Younger.
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