Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 1 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Nonunion AI simulator
(@Nonunion_simulator)
Hub AI
Nonunion AI simulator
(@Nonunion_simulator)
Nonunion
Nonunion is permanent failure of healing following a broken bone unless intervention (such as surgery) is performed. A fracture with nonunion generally forms a structural resemblance to a fibrous joint, and is therefore often called a "false joint" or pseudoarthrosis (from Greek pseudo-, meaning false, arthron, meaning joint, and -osis, meaning abnormal condition). The diagnosis is generally made when there is no healing between two sets of medical imaging, such as X-ray or CT scan. This is generally after 6–8 months.
Nonunion is a serious complication of a fracture and may occur when the fracture moves too much, has a poor blood supply or gets infected. Patients who smoke have a higher incidence of nonunion. The normal process of bone healing is interrupted or stalled.[citation needed]
Since the process of bone healing is quite variable, a nonunion may go on to heal without intervention in very few cases. In general, if a nonunion is still evident at 6 months post-injury it will remain unhealed without specific treatment, usually orthopedic surgery. A non-union which does go on to heal is called a delayed union.
A history of a broken bone is usually apparent. The patient complains of persistent pain at the fracture site and may also notice abnormal movement or clicking at the level of the fracture. An X-ray plate of the fractured bone shows a persistent radiolucent line at the fracture. Callus formation may be evident but callus does not bridge across the fracture. If there is doubt about the interpretation of the x-ray, stress x-rays, tomograms or CT scan may be used for confirmation.[citation needed]
The reasons for non-union are:[citation needed]
There are typically three types of nonunion described.
In a hypertrophic nonunion, the fracture site contains adequate blood supply but the fracture ends fail to heal together. X-rays show abundant callus formation. This type of nonunion is thought to occur when the body has adequate biology, such as stem cells and blood supply, but inadequate stability, meaning the bone ends are moving too much. Typically, the treatment consists of increasing stability of the fracture site with surgical implants.
In an atrophic nonunion, x-rays show little to no callus formation. This is usually due to impaired bony healing, for example due to vascular causes (e.g. impaired blood supply to the bone fragments) or metabolic causes (e.g. diabetes or smoking). Failure of initial union, as when bone fragments are separated by soft tissue, may also lead to an atrophic non-union. Atrophic non-unions can be treated by stimulating blood flow and encouraging healing. This is often done surgically by removing the end layer of bone to provide raw ends for healing and the use of bone grafts.
Nonunion
Nonunion is permanent failure of healing following a broken bone unless intervention (such as surgery) is performed. A fracture with nonunion generally forms a structural resemblance to a fibrous joint, and is therefore often called a "false joint" or pseudoarthrosis (from Greek pseudo-, meaning false, arthron, meaning joint, and -osis, meaning abnormal condition). The diagnosis is generally made when there is no healing between two sets of medical imaging, such as X-ray or CT scan. This is generally after 6–8 months.
Nonunion is a serious complication of a fracture and may occur when the fracture moves too much, has a poor blood supply or gets infected. Patients who smoke have a higher incidence of nonunion. The normal process of bone healing is interrupted or stalled.[citation needed]
Since the process of bone healing is quite variable, a nonunion may go on to heal without intervention in very few cases. In general, if a nonunion is still evident at 6 months post-injury it will remain unhealed without specific treatment, usually orthopedic surgery. A non-union which does go on to heal is called a delayed union.
A history of a broken bone is usually apparent. The patient complains of persistent pain at the fracture site and may also notice abnormal movement or clicking at the level of the fracture. An X-ray plate of the fractured bone shows a persistent radiolucent line at the fracture. Callus formation may be evident but callus does not bridge across the fracture. If there is doubt about the interpretation of the x-ray, stress x-rays, tomograms or CT scan may be used for confirmation.[citation needed]
The reasons for non-union are:[citation needed]
There are typically three types of nonunion described.
In a hypertrophic nonunion, the fracture site contains adequate blood supply but the fracture ends fail to heal together. X-rays show abundant callus formation. This type of nonunion is thought to occur when the body has adequate biology, such as stem cells and blood supply, but inadequate stability, meaning the bone ends are moving too much. Typically, the treatment consists of increasing stability of the fracture site with surgical implants.
In an atrophic nonunion, x-rays show little to no callus formation. This is usually due to impaired bony healing, for example due to vascular causes (e.g. impaired blood supply to the bone fragments) or metabolic causes (e.g. diabetes or smoking). Failure of initial union, as when bone fragments are separated by soft tissue, may also lead to an atrophic non-union. Atrophic non-unions can be treated by stimulating blood flow and encouraging healing. This is often done surgically by removing the end layer of bone to provide raw ends for healing and the use of bone grafts.
Recent media
Recent media