Bone growth stimulators
Some patients have difficulty healing after bone injuries and spinal fusion surgery. Certain health factors may impair the natural healing process of the bones in many of these cases. If health complications or risks impede your ability for your bones to heal naturally, it may take lengthy procedures or painful surgery for your bone to heal. Bone growth stimulation, also known as bone growth therapy, is often prescribed to help overcome healing challenges.
About
One in every 20 bone fractures fails to heal correctly. Some fractures can take longer to heal than expected. This condition is referred to medically as a nonunion – when the fracture site shows no visible signs of healing.
When you fracture a bone, your body produces electric fields surrounding and in the fractured bone segments to encourage repair. These internal electrical fields are a critical, biological signaling process that is needed for the bone to grow and heal normally. Your bones are capable of healing themselves when damaged in much the same way as your skin and other tissues do.
A bone growth stimulator mimics the body’s natural signaling processes by applying an external electric field.
History of bone growth stimulation
Experiments to use electrical currents to heal bones started in the mid-1800s. But it wasn’t until the 1950s that scientists discovered that when a human bone is bent or broken, it generates an electrical field. This low-level electrical field triggers the body’s own repair mechanism, which, in turn, promotes bone healing.5-7
Bone growth stimulation devices have been available for over 30 years. Florida Orthopaedic Institute currently uses three products prescribed by your physician to your specific needs:
- Biomet® EBI® Bone Healing System
- Exogen® Ultrasound Bone Healing System
- Orthofix® Bone Growth Therapy devices
Treatment
Benefits of bone growth stimulation devices
Bone growth stimulation devices provide a safe, non-invasive treatment that helps promote healing. They are prescribed for fractured bones and spinal fusions that have not healed or have had difficulty healing. They stimulate the bone’s natural healing process by sending low-level pulses of electromagnetic energy to the injury or fusion site.
- Designed for patient ease of use
- Overall clinical success rate of 92% for adjunct spinal fusions
- FDA-approved
- Proven, safe, and effective
- As little as 20 minutes a day of safe, painless treatment
- Significantly accelerates your body’s natural bone healing process and helps repair fractures that have failed to heal and might otherwise require surgery. (Results vary due to health, weight, activity, and other variables.)
FAQs
Insurance coverage varies based on your insurance plan, but most major health insurers cover bone growth stimulation as an indicated therapy for repairing nonunion fractures. It is also generally accepted by Medicare, Medicaid, workers compensation, and many private and public health plans.
Each system varies, but most devices have an anatomically configured treatment coil placed over a cast or directly onto the skin. The coil is lightweight and easy to apply. An electronic control unit sends a pulsating energy field to the fracture nonunion or failed fusion site. Systems are battery-operated, portable, and easy to operate. You can treat your fracture nonunion or failed fusion while going about your daily routine, relaxing, or sleeping.
You can only get a bone healing system with a doctor’s prescription. Not all patients are candidates. Only your doctor can determine the treatment appropriate for your specific condition. Your insurance company may need certain backup information.
Systems vary, but you can assume a recommended daily treatment time of 8-10 hours per day. Your doctor will closely check your healing to determine how long you should use the device. Risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, osteoporosis, steroids, and alcohol can factor into the length of your treatment.
All systems prescribed by Florida Orthopaedic Institute are designed to be convenient to use, comfortable to wear, and safe to operate. You will not feel the bone healing therapy as it delivers the therapeutic treatment signal to the nonunion or failed fusion site. Most systems have indicator displays that show when the system is activated correctly.
MRI scans should not be performed until your bone healing system has been completely removed.
Probably not. The use of a pacemaker or cardioverter with some bone healing systems is not recommended. Check with your physician.
The use of a bone healing system during pregnancy has not been evaluated with all systems, so it is not recommended. Check with your physician.