ReviewEuropean journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society2020
Electrical stimulation-based bone fracture treatment, if it works so well why do not more surgeons use it?
Review in European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06510595 (Biomechanical Analysis of Distal Radius), which is not on this map. Cited by 32 papers.
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.
Biomechanical Analysis of Distal Radius (Greenstick) Fracture Healing by Finite Element Method
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed.
- 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
- Effects of mechanical and electrical stimulation on accelerating greenstick fracture Healing: Insights from finite element analysis and experimental validation.Journal of orthopaedics · 2025Article
- Non-contact electrical stimulation via a Vector-potential transformer promotes bone healing in drill-hole injury model.Journal of bone and mineral metabolism · 2025Article
- Article
- Review
- Stimuli-responsive microcarriers and their application in tissue repair: A review of magnetic and electroactive microcarrier.Bioactive materials · 2024Review
- Strategies of functionalized GelMA-based bioinks for bone regeneration: Recent advances and future perspectives.Bioactive materials · 2024Review
- Synergistic effect of ultrasound and reinforced electrical environment by bioinspired periosteum for enhanced osteogenesis via immunomodulation of macrophage polarization through Piezo1.Materials today. Bio · 2024Article
- Direct Current Electrical Stimulation Shifts THP-1-Derived Macrophage Polarization towards Pro-Regenerative M2 Phenotype.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Piezoelectric hydrogel for treatment of periodontitis through bioenergetic activation.Bioactive materials · 2024Article
- Bioelectricity in dental medicine: a narrative review.Biomedical engineering online · 2024Review
- Effects of electrical stimulation with alternating fields on the osseointegration of titanium implants in the rabbit tibia - a pilot study.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2024Article
- Methods to accelerate fracture healing - a narrative review from a clinical perspective.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Activation of healing and reduction of pain by single-use automated microcurrent electrical stimulation therapy in patients with hard-to-heal wounds.International wound journal · 2023Article
- Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMF)-Physiological Response and Its Potential in Trauma Treatment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Electroactive Spinal Instrumentation for Targeted Osteogenesis and Spine Fusion: A Computational Study.International journal of spine surgery · 2023Article
- Recent advances of responsive scaffolds in bone tissue engineering.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2023Review
- Efficacy of bone stimulators in large-animal models and humans may be limited by weak electric fields reaching fracture.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- The skeleton in a physical world.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundElectrical stimulation (EStim) has been proven to promote bone healing in experimental settings and has been used clinically for many years and yet it has not become a mainstream clinical treatment.
methodsTo better understand this discrepancy we reviewed 72 animal and 69 clinical studies published between 1978 and 2017, and separately asked 161 orthopedic surgeons worldwide about their awareness, experience, and acceptance of EStim for treating fracture patients.
resultsOf the 72 animal studies, 77% reported positive outcomes, and the most common model, bone, fracture type, and method of administering EStim were dog, tibia, large bone defects, and DC, respectively. Of the 69 clinical studies, 73% reported positive outcomes, and the most common bone treated, fracture type, and method of administration were tibia, delayed/non-unions, and PEMF, respectively. Of the 161 survey respondents, most (73%) were aware of the positive outcomes reported in the literature, yet only 32% used EStim in their patients. The most common fracture they treated was delayed/non-unions, and the greatest problems with EStim were high costs and inconsistent results.
conclusionDespite their awareness of EStim's pro-fracture healing effects few orthopedic surgeons use it in their patients. Our review of the literature and survey indicate that this is due to confusion in the literature due to the great variation in methods reported, and the inconsistent results associated with this treatment approach. In spite of this surgeons seem to be open to using this treatment if advancements in the technology were able to provide an easy to use, cost-effective method to deliver EStim in their fracture patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
30955053What 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.