Tibial nonunion

Summary

Limited evidence from four small randomized controlled trials suggests a possible benefit for ES treatment of tibial nonunions compared with a placebo treatment. Although time to healing was not reported, three studies indicated a higher proportion of healed tibias with ES compared with placebo as treatment, but one older study in 1984 reported no such benefit. All studies had small sample sizes. There were no differences in pain or postoperative infection between groups. Additional methodologically rigorous randomized controlled trials with larger populations are necessary to establish the superiority of ES treatment for treatment of acute tibial fractures.