Table 3.
Time to fracture healing-LIPUS versus placebo
| Trial | Radiographic definition of fracture healing* | Mean days to fracture healing or fraction of patients healed (no. of weeks) | Statistical significance (P value) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIPUS | Placebo | |||
| Malleolar | Callus formation | 14/15 | 12/15 | No |
| Handolin et al., 200534 | 12th postop. week) | (12th postop. week) | ||
| Handolin et al., 200540 | Callus formation | 8/10 | 9/11 | No |
| (12th postop. week) | (12th postop. week) | |||
| Radial Kristiansen et al., 19975 | Bridging of 4 cortices | 61 ± 3 days | 98 ± 5 days | Yes P < 0.0001 |
| Tibial Heckman et al., 199441 | Bridging of 4 cortices Bridging of 3 of 4 cortices | 114 ± 7.5 days | 182 ± 15.8 days | Yes P = 0.0002 |
| Leung et al., 200542 | Bridging 3 of 4 cortices | 11.5 ± 3.0 weeks | 20 ± 4.4 weeks | Yes P < 0.05 |
| Emami et al., 199937 | “Signs of healing like cortical thickening” | 155 ± 22 days | 129 ± 12 days | No |
| Rue et al., 200443 | 56.2 ± 19.6 days | 55.8 ± 15.5 days | No | |
*
Although individual trials may have reported other criteria for fracture healing, signs of radiographic healing were of interest for the current review.