Institution: University College London
Investigator: Dr Ian McCarthy, Professor David Marsh
Stream: Research Fellowship
Topic: General Orthopaedic
Status: Live
Distraction osteogenesis is a powerful surgical technique whereby in situations where there is a loss of bone or decreased length of a limb, new bone is created from pre-existing bone by making a cut in the bone (osteotomy) and then lengthening the bone (distraction) and allowing bone to grow in the gap between the two bone ends (osteogenesis).
The average length that can be gained during lengthening is 1mm per day but this has to be followed by a period of time where the bone created in the gap is allowed to become strong enough to allow full function. This latter period of time is known as the consolidation period.
Distraction osteogenesis is usually performed using an external fixator (pin and frame construct) to allow the two parts of the bone to be held in alignment while lengthening is taking place. On average, most patients wear the external fixator for 6 – 9 months (or approximately 40 days per cm of lengthening – known as the healing index). Often, this period can be even longer. Prolonged application of external fixator is known to increase the risk of complications, such as pin site infection and joint stiffness.
The aim of modern techniques is to reduce the time taken for the new bone to consolidate and therefore, also the time spent in the external fixator. This is a one year pilot study to:
i) Assess the use of vibration therapy as an adjunct to distraction osteogenesis in order to improve the quality of regenerate bone and to decrease time to consolidation and frame removal
ii) Compare quantitative measurements of the stiffness of regenerate bone with conventional qualitative outcome measures
iii) Use the date to put forward a large 5 year grant proposal proposal to national and international funding bodies and institution
« Back to research projects
