The role of biophysical stimulation with pemfs in fracture healing: from bench to bedside
Author: G Vicenti#1, D Bizzoca#1, G Solarino1, F Moretti2, G Ottaviani1, F Simone1, G Zavattini1, G Maccagnano3, G Noia3, B Moretti1
Affiliation:
1 School of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro"- AOU Consorziale "Policlinico" - Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Orthopaedic & Trauma Unit, Bari, Italy.
2 National Centre for Chemicals, Cosmetic Products and Consumer Protection, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
3 Riuniti Hospital, Foggia, Italy.
Conference/Journal: J Biol Regul Homeost Agents
Date published: Sep-Oct 2020
Other:
Volume ID: 34 , Issue ID: 5 Suppl. 1 , Pages: 131-135 IORS Special Issue on Orthopedics , Word Count: 164
Clinical biophysics investigates the relationship between non-ionizing physical energy and the human body. This narrative review aims to summarize the current evidence on the efficacy of PEMF-therapy in the promotion of fracture healing. The effectiveness of PEMFs has been deeply investigated in preclinical in vitro ed in vivo studies and level-I clinical studies. All these studies depicted only PEMF-devices with specific physical wave features - i.e. pulse shape, frequency and amplitude- could significantly promote bone repair. Moreover, the dose-response relationship was also defined in preclinical studies, thus providing the minimum exposure time needed in PEMF-therapy. PEMFs are currently employed in the management several bone injuries, including acute fractures at non-union risk, non-unions, osteotomies, stress fractures and osteonecrosis. Moreover, several ongoing studies are investigating the effectiveness of PEMFs on emerging clinical conditions, thus the indications to PEMF-therapy could potentially raise in future years.
Keywords: Biophysical stimulation; Capacitive Coupling Electric Fields; FRACTING score; Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields; bone marrow edema; delayed unions; fracture healing; non-unions.
PMID: 33739018
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