Value of color Doppler ultrasonography on monitoring of fracture callus

Abstract

Objective To investigate the value of color Doppler ultrasonography on fracture callus monitoring. Methods Fifteen patients with femur and/or tibial fractures treated with internal fixation were examined sonographically with color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) during the 1st week, 2nd week, 3rd week, 4th week, 9th week, 15th week and about 6th month after the surgery when radiographic demonstration may confirmed the callus' consolidation. Results Twelve of fifteen patients had a well-developed callus, three patients showed delayed fracture healing. In patients with normal callus development, color Doppler imaging demonstrated the progressive formation of new vessels during the 1st month, especially during the 2nd, the 3rd,and the 4th week after the surgery with the blood flow resistance indices (RI) lower than 0.6 (RI0.6); in the subsequent examinations, flow signals decreased, bone remodeling was confirmed by conventional radiography and gray-scale sonography. In contrast, lack of flow signals and persistent high RI (0.7) were observed in the 3 patients with delayed fracture healing. Conclusion Color Doppler ultrasonography have the capability to predict whether the development of fracture calluses will be normal or delayed during its early rehabilitation time.

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