[Influence of hormone or hormone replacement therapy on bone healing]

Abstract

Since the observations of Fuller Albright in 1940, it is well documented that estrogen deficiency is one of the major causes of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis increases not only the risk of fracture and consecutively the number of fractures but can also induce a disorder of fracture healing. This raises the question whether estrogen deficiency negatively influences bone healing in addition to fragility. The currently available literature on this topic provides indications that estrogen deficiency negatively influences fracture healing in the various stages of healing. Furthermore, there is evidence that the administration of estrogen antagonizes these negative effects. Future clinical investigations are needed to find out whether the experimental data can be transferred to the patients.

Keywords: Estrogens; Fracture healing; Menopause; Osteoporosis; Risk factors.