Table 2.
Definitive treatment
| References | Cases (n) | Methods | Bone graft | Union | Union time (months) | Pain at nonunion site (n) | Number of prior operations (mean) | Number of complications | Additional surgery (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ali and Saleh5 | 15 | EF | 0 | 14 | 10.4 | No | 3.3 | 15 | Yes (5) |
| Alt et al.6 | 1 | IMN+rhBMP‐2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | No | 2 | 1 | No |
| Bellabarba et al.7 | 20 | P | 9 | 20 | 3.5 | Yes (2) | 1 | 4 | Yes (1) |
| Chen et al.8 | 1 | P | 1 | 1 | 15 | No | 2 | 0 | No |
| Davila et al.9 | 2 | Megaprosthesis | 0 | 2 | — | No | 4.5 | 0 | No |
| Gardner et al.3 | 31 | P | 31 | 30 | 16.1 | Yes (1) | 1 | 21 | Yes (1) |
| Graves et al.10 | 1 | P | 1 | 1 | 6 | No | 2 | 0 | No |
| Haidukewych et al.11 | 22 | P‐18/IMN‐4 | 21 | 21 | — | Yes (1) | — | 3 | No |
| Hailer and Hoffmann12 | 1 | P | 1 | 1 | 48 | No | 1 | 1 | No |
| Oh et al.13 | 1 | Dynamization | 0 | 1 | 6 | No | 1 | 0 | No |
| Pao and Jiang 14 | 2 | IMN | 1 | 2 | 5 | Yes (1) | 1 | 2 | No |
| Saridis et al.15 | 13 | EF | 2 | 13 | — | No | 3 | 10 | Yes (10) |
| Tis et al.16 | 1 | Osteotomy+P | 1 | 1 | 9 | No | 2 | 1 | No |
| Vaishya et al.4 | 8 | Megaprosthesis | 0 | 8 | — | No | 2 | 3 | No |
| Wang and Weng17 | 13 | P‐10/IMN‐2/B‐1 | 13 | 13 | 5 | No | 1.77 | 4 | Yes (1) |
| Waseem et al.18 | 2 | LIPUS | 0 | 2 | 2 | No | 4 | 0 | No |
| Wu19 | 13 | IMN‐7/P + IMN‐6 | 0 | 13 | 4.5 | Yes (2) | 1.73 | 0 | No |
| Wu20 | 20 | IMN | 20 | 18 | 4.9 | Yes (6) | 1.5 | 6 | No |
| Yoshida et al.21 | 2 | P | 2 | 2 | 5.5 | No | 2 | 0 | No |
| Total | 169 | 104 | 164 |
EF, external fixation; IMN, intramedullary nail; LIPUS, low intensity pulsed ultrasound; P, plate.