Kanakaris N K, Giannoudis Peter V
Academic Department of Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, UK.
Injury. 2007 May;38 Suppl 2:S77-84. doi: 10.1016/s0020-1383(07)80012-x.
A review of the existing evidence on economic costs of treatment of long-bone fracture non-unions has retrieved 9 papers. Mostly the tibial shaft non-unions have been utilised as models for these economic analyses. Novel treatment strategies like BMP-7 grafting, Ilizarov ring external fixation or supplementary use of therapeutic ultrasound devices have been compared with standard methods of treatment focusing on direct and indirect costs and expenses. A cost-identification query was conducted and revealed costs of pound 15,566, pound 17,200 and pound 16,330 for humeral, femoral, and tibial non-unions respectively on a "best-case scenario". The existing scientific evidence can only imply the extent of the economic burden of long-bone non-unions. Further systematic studies are needed to assess the direct medical, direct non-medical, indirect, and monetised quality of life and psychosocial costs of non-unions.
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