Healing in the New Millennium: Bone Stimulators: An Overview of Where We've Been and Where We May be Heading.

Author: Cook JJ1, Summers NJ2, Cook EA1.
Affiliation: 1Division of Podiatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Mount Auburn Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 330 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. 2Division of Podiatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Mount Auburn Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 330 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: nsummers@mah.harvard.edu.
Conference/Journal: Clin Podiatr Med Surg.
Date published: 2015 Jan
Other: Volume ID: 32 , Issue ID: 1 , Pages: 45-59 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.cpm.2014.09.003 , Word Count: 117



Bone stimulators encompass several technologies that promote bone healing via manipulation of energy fields. Primary indications for the use of bone stimulation devices are the delayed union and nonunion. Electromagnetic fields and their uses in bone healing have been fairly well-studied, with most results showing improvement in healing of both bone and cartilage, although most supportive data are found in relation to the spine, femur, and tibia. There is increasing evidence for its use in the foot and ankle, for both treatments of nonunions and as an adjunctive device in arthrodeses, particularly in high-risk populations.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Bone stimulator; Delayed union; Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound scan; Nonunion; Osteochondral defects; Pulsed electromagnetic fields
PMID: 25440417