Enhancing Healing with Noncontact Low-Frequency Ultrasound in Fingertip Amputation Treatment: A Comparative Pilot...

Area of Science:

• Regenerative Medicine
• Wound Healing
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Acute traumatic fingertip amputations are common injuries requiring effective treatment.
• Optimizing healing outcomes for these injuries is crucial for patient recovery and function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of noncontact low-frequency ultrasound (NCLF-US) as an adjunctive therapy for acute traumatic fingertip amputations.
• To compare healing times and rates between NCLF-US combined with local wound care and local wound care alone.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of adult patients with fingertip amputations (Feb 2022-Apr 2023).
• Exclusion criteria included vascular disease, infection, and surgical intervention.
• Patients received either NCLF-US plus local wound care or local wound care alone (LWCA).

Main Results:

• The NCLF-US cohort had larger average wound sizes (434.7 mm²) compared to LWCA (123.0 mm²).
• Total healing time was significantly faster in the NCLF-US group (34.4 days) versus LWCA (49.2 days).
• Healing rates were substantially improved with NCLF-US (0.112 days/mm²) compared to LWCA (1.038 days/mm²).

Conclusions:

• NCLF-US therapy demonstrated a nine-fold increase in healing speed for fingertip amputations compared to LWCA.
• These findings support NCLF-US as a promising adjunctive therapy for enhancing fingertip amputation healing.