Biomechanics of Bone Healing: Editorial Comment

Excerpt

The ability to assess the degree to which a fracture has healed has challenged orthopaedic caregivers since the dawn of history. One can rest assured the earliest shamans struggled in a similar fashion to their modern counterparts in knowing when a fracture has healed enough to allow the resumption of unrestricted load bearing and function. The aim of all fracture care is restoration of limb function, which depends heavily on the fractured bone healing and regaining its original mechanical strength. One of the important skills that must be acquired by surgeons who treat fractures is the ability to assess the extent of healing from clinical and radiographic information. Recently, this assessment has become even more important because new devices, bone graft substitutes and pharmacological agents are being introduced which are intended to speed fracture healing and enhance the resistance to fracture of bone weakened by aging, osteoporosis and other disease. In order to assess the efficacy and benefit of these materials, exacting methods to assess healing and the strength of bone are required. This symposium reports examples of current research in methods to assess fracture healing and the mechanical properties of bone. Although few of these new technologies can be applied clinically at this time, becoming familiar with this research will benefit any clinician in this field. …