EARLY PREDICTORS OF NON-UNION OF DIAPHYSEAL TIBIAL FRACTURES BASED ON SCORING SYSTEMS

Abstract

Introduction: The lack of standardization in the assessment of healing potential of diaphyseal tibial fractures in the early stages of treatment leads to late diagnosis of non-union, which requires the development of prognostic diagnostic criteria that take into account possible risk factors.

Objective: To analyze and evaluate the available scoring systems for predicting union and non-union of diaphyseal tibial fractures.

Methods: We searched for publications in Scopus (Elsevier), PubMed, Publons, Medline, RSCI, Google, and Google Scholar databases.

Results: Six systems for predicting the risk of non-union of tibial fractures were analyzed, 4 of which included clinical and surgical risk factors for non-union. The advantage of the scoring systems is the identification of interventional thresholds for early detection of non-union.

Conclusions: The Radiographic Union Scale for Tibia (RUST), the Tibia FRACTure prediction healING (FRACTING), the Leeds-Genoa Non-Union Index (LEG-NUT), and the Non-Union Scoring System (NUSS) are the most researched and recommended for clinical use. The Non-union Determination Score (NURD) and Tibial Fracture Healing Score (TFHS) systems require further evaluation.