Application of extracorporeal shock wave on bone: preliminary report

We have studied the effect of extracorporeal shock waves (ESW) on bone. ESW emitted by the new powerful generator provides three to six times greater energy than a common lithotriptor. Because the ESW causes fracture of rabbit femurs and induces new bone formation, we have called this treatment as ESWIB (ESW-induced bone formation). The purpose of this study is to confirm the effect of ESWIB on a canine model, which is more similar to clinical cases, and to apply ESWIB on nonunion of clinical cases.

In our basic research, ESWIB was applied on six canine femurs as follows: group I with 100, 500, 1,000 shots and group II with 100, 500, 1,000 shots. A femur was extracted immediately after ESWIB in group I and 2 months after ESWIB in group II. Blood tests, including blood cell counts and blood chemistry studies, were performed before and after ESWIB in group II. In our clinical research, we applied ESWIB to six patients of delayed or nonunion of the fracture. The sites of the ESWIB application were three tibiae, one radius, one femur, and one humerus. Average age of the patients, the period from the previous surgery, and the period until fusion was achieved were 38.6 years, 14.0 months, and 4.3 months, respectively.

In our basic research, group I, 500 or more shots caused periosteum detachment. In addition, small fractures of the inner surface of the cortex were observed. However, gross fracture with displacement was not observed. In group II, 500 or more shots caused callus formation beneath the detached periosteum. Subcutaneous hemorrhage was seen in all dogs, and the degree of bleeding was directly proportional to the number of the shots. The blood was absorbed within a week. The level of serum creatine kinase was significantly high 2 days after ESWIB, but it recovered in a week. In our clinical research, four of the patients achieved union without any complications except mild subcutaneous bleeding.

We predict that ESWIB will be one of the tactics for treatment of the delayed union or nonunion of the fracture in the future.