Metabolic measurement techniques to assess bone fracture healing: a preliminary study.

The purpose of this study was to project the effectiveness of using positron emission tomography for evaluation of fracture healing using the analogous method of liquid scintillation. A reproducible comminuted fracture model in rabbit femurs was stabilized with external fixation. Thirty-nine rabbits were divided into four groups: Group A had slight distraction, Group B had shortening, Group C had a bone defect, and Group D was the sham control group. At 2 and 4 weeks after fracture, the femurs had liquid scintillation measurements using 2-[14C]-deoxyglucose (2DG C-14). Glucose uptake was significantly elevated in the experimental limb relative to the contralateral control femurs at both times. The distraction group showed a significant decrease in uptake from 2-4 weeks. There was a high correlation between the liquid scintillation measurements and the radiographic fracture healing scores, with higher levels of 2DG C-14 uptake corresponding to lower levels of fracture healing calcification. The high correlation found between 2DG C-14 uptake and radiographic scores suggests that positron emission tomography used in conjunction with a glucose-based radiopharmaceutical such as 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose can monitor the fracture healing process effectively.