[Review of non-surgical treatment of avascular necrosis of the femoral head].

Avascular necrosis of the femoral head is a frequent condition with an insidious presentation; it is initially asymptomatic and thus it is seldom diagnosed at the early stages. The purpose of this review is to update the status of the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of avascular necrosis of the femoral head. This paper analyzes the natural history of the disease as well as the prognostic importance of early diagnosis and the identification of the extension and location of osteonecrosis. It also discusses the different nonsurgical treatment methods such as: high energy extracorporeal shock waves, electromagnetic pulsed fields, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, drugs, physical therapy, and regenerative medicine. The conclusion is that no method is effective in the advanced stages and there is great hope of treating this condition without surgery; however, progress needs to be made in research, particularly in the use of external biophysical agents and regenerative medicine. The gold standard of treatment is still surgical decompression of the femoral head at the stages in which no collapse has occurred. The prognosis apparently improves with the use of biophysical and regenerative medicine adjuvants.