Effect of radial shock wave therapy on long bone fracture repair.

Nowadays, various diseases of the locomotor system are treated by extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for instance: acute fracture and pseudoarthrosis, nonunion, chronic tendinitis. Unfocused (radial) pressure wave therapy (RPWT) primarily affects superficial tissues, so justifiability of its medicinal employment is uncertain. We aimed to observe time sequence of the long bone fracture healing using RPWT. Forty-eight female Wistar rats were divided into an RPWT group (n=36) and a control group (n=12). The RPWT group had the largest cross-sectional area (CSA) of the bone trabeculae compared to controls. Post-hoc analyses revealed the largest cross-sectional area (CSA) of the bone trabeculae (1.7 mm2) and the smallest CSA of the cartilage (0.04 mm2) of the RPWT group on the 22nd day. Conclusively, long bone fracture repair is enhanced by RPWT, suggesting that it strongly stimulates the processes of callus ossification.