Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jun;50 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S62-S65.
doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2019.05.005. Epub 2019 May 11.

Fracture repair in the elderly: Clinical and experimental considerations

E G Meinberg  1 , D Clark  1 , K R Miclau  1 , R Marcucio  1 , T Miclau  2
Affiliations

Fracture repair in the elderly: Clinical and experimental considerations

E G Meinberg et al. Injury. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Fractures in the elderly represent a significant and rising socioeconomic problem. Although aging has been associated with delays in healing, there is little direct clinical data isolating the effects of aging on bone healing from the associated comorbidities that are frequently present in elderly populations. Basic research has demonstrated that all of the components of fracture repair-cells, extracellular matrix, blood supply, and molecules and their receptors-are negatively impacted by the aging process, which likely explains poorer clinical outcomes. Improved understanding of age-related fracture healing should aid in the development of novel treatment strategies, technologies, and therapies to improve bone repair in elderly patients.

Keywords: Clinical; Elderly; Fracture; Healing; Repair.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

COI: The authors declares that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Clinical Factors Affecting Bone Healing
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, Population Projections Branch, Projected Population of the United States, by Age and Sex: 2000–2050.
    1. Xu D, Bi FG, Ma CY, Wen ZF, Cai XZ. A systematic review of undisplaced femoral neck fracture treatments for patients over 65 years of age, with a focus on union rates and avascular necrosis. J Orthop Surg Res. 2017; 12: 28. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Parker MJ, Raghavan R, Gurusamy K. Incidence of fracture-healing complications after femoral neck fractures. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2007. May;458:175–9. - PubMed
    1. Duckworth AD, Bennet SJ, Aderinto J, Keating JF. Fixation of intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck in young patients: risk factors for failure. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2011. June;93(6):811–6. - PubMed
    1. Zura R, Mehta S, Della Rocca GJ, Jones J, Steen RG. A cohort study of 4,190 patients treated with low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS): findings in the elderly versus all patients. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2015. March 1;16:45. - PMC - PubMed