ArticleEplasty2011
Electrical stimulation in bone healing: critical analysis by evaluating levels of evidence.
Article in Eplasty, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
67 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The role of electrical stimulation in the management of avascular necrosis of the femoral head in adults: a systematic review.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2017Pooled it
- Systematic review of patient factors affecting adipose stem cell viability and function: implications for regenerative therapy.Stem cell research & therapy · 2017Pooled it
- Direct and Gradual Electrical Testicular Shocks Stimulate Spermatogenesis and Activate Sperms in Infertile Men: A Randomized Controlled Trial.American journal of men's healthTrial
- In situ-built chemo-electroactive hydrogel incorporating Mg-based hydrogen generators for osteoarthritis therapy.Materials today. Bio · 2026Article
- A bioprocessing approach for osteogenic differentiation: combining electrical stimulation with the F1 protein fraction from natural latex of Hevea brasiliensis.Bioprocess and biosystems engineering · 2026Article
- Bone Growth Stimulators to Enhance Spinal Fusion Outcomes.Spine surgery and related research · 2026Review
- SAR-Based Thermal Assessment of Dielectrophoretic Pulsed Electromagnetic Stimulation in Tibia Fractures with Metallic Implants.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exploring the piezoelectric phenomenon: From polymers to human tissues and advanced applications in tissue engineering.Bioactive materials · 2026Review
- The effect of electrical bone stimulation on bone union in foot and ankle injuries: A scoping review.Acta orthopaedica et traumatologica turcica · 2025Article
- Alternating Current Stimulation Promotes Healing of Bone Fractures in Rabbits.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Technology behind augmenting fracture healing.Bulletin of the Hospital for Joint Disease (2013) · 2025Review
- Open Challenges and Opportunities in Piezoelectricity for Tissue Regeneration.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- Safety and preliminary efficacy of an electrically stimulated implant for mandibular bone regeneration: a pilot study in a large animal model.Clinical oral investigations · 2025Article
- The Genetic and Biological Basis of Pseudoarthrosis in Fractures: Current Understanding and Future Directions.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Research status of biomaterials based on physical signals for bone injury repair.Regenerative therapy · 2025Review
- Bioresorbable Materials for Wound Management.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Bioelectric cues from piezoelectric materials in stem-cell adhesion and migration.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Metal semiconductor materials in bone diseases: properties, applications, and future perspectives.Burns & trauma · 2025Review
- Stem Cells in Bone Tissue Engineering: Progress, Promises and Challenges.Stem cell reviews and reports · 2024Review
- The Effect of Doping on the Electrical and Dielectric Properties of Hydroxyapatite for Medical Applications: From Powders to Thin Films.Materials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesDirect current, capacitive coupling, and inductive coupling are modes of electrical stimulation (ES) used to enhance bone healing. It is important to assess the effectiveness of ES for bone healing to ensure optimization for clinical practice. This review aims to examine the level of evidence (LOE) for the application of ES to enhance bone healing and investigate the proposed mechanism for its stimulatory effect.
methodsMEDLINE and EMBASE searches were conducted to identify clinical and in vitro studies utilizing ES for bone healing since 1959. A total of 105 clinical studies and 35 in vitro studies were evaluated. Clinical studies were assigned LOE according to Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (LOE-1, highest; LOE-5, lowest).
resultsDirect current was found to be effective in enhancing bone healing in spinal fusion but only LOE-4 supported its use for nonunions. Eleven studies were retrieved for capacitive coupling with LOE-1 demonstrating its effectiveness for treating nonunions. The majority of studies utilized inductive coupling with LOE-1 supporting its application for healing osteotomies and nonunions. In vitro studies demonstrate that ES enhances bone healing by changes in growth factors and transmembrane signaling although no clear mechanism has been defined.
conclusionOverall, the studies, although in favor of ES application in bone repair, displayed variability in treatment regime, primary outcome measures, follow-up times, and study design, making critical evaluation and assessment difficult. Electrical stimulation shows promise in enhancement of bone healing; however, better-designed clinical studies will enable the optimization for clinical practice.
Identifiers
21847434PMC3145421What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.