Fractures to the tibia and fibula are very common after trauma, especially car accidents. They are also notoriously difficult to heal, with about 1 in 5 going on to a non-union (doesn’t mend). Usually, the treatment for this kind of non-healing fracture is a bone stimulator and if that doesn’t work, then surgically re-breaking the area and placing in more rods, screws, or plates. This is a big second surgery that isn’t very successful. This morning’s case is EW, who had allot of reasons not to heal. He had osteoporosis and severe low back problems, and 3 months after his initial surgery for his tib fib fracture, it still hadn’t healed. He tried a bone stimulator and at 4-5 months after the initial injury, it still wasn’t healed. He was told he needed another surgery to re-break the bone, but instead he entered into one of our studies. Rather than surgery, we injected his own stem cells into the break under x-ray guidance. He had no downtime after that, since he had hardware in place. Within the first few weeks he went from a wheelchair (when tib-fibs don’t heal, it’s very painful to walk, since there is no bony connection between the foot and the knee) to walking with a cane and then a few weeks later to walking without any assistance. At 5 months after his stem cell injection, we were able to get him back in for a follow-up x-ray that’s shown above. Note that the very clear light colored fracture line that can be seen in the before x-ray has started to fill in. EW came in today for a 15 month follow-up x-ray, which shows very solid and complete healing of the area.
In summary, EW went from needing a big surgery to re-break the area where he would have had a protracted recovery, to just needing an injection of his own stem cells. We have had very high levels of success in healing non-union fractures of many types with injecting stem cells into the fracture lines. Hopefully, this will eventually lead to fewer re-operations.
This patient was treated with the Regenexx-C (cultured stem cell injections). In addition, not every patient we treat with a delayed union or non-union fracture should expect this same result.
Tags: fibula, fracture, Fracture Non-Union, healing, leg, non-healing, Regenexx-C, stem cells, tib-fib, tibia
