The Tibia Fracture Challenge

Tibia Fractures (TF) are a common and severe orthopedic emergency, affecting close to seven million people worldwide annually. And these numbers are growing as our populations age, more of us participate in "fracture-friendly" leisure activities, and as the number of cars, bikes, scooters, and other personal transportation vehicles on the roads (along with the accidents that go with them) grows each year.

But despite their prevalence and severity, tibia fractures simply do not have satisfactory treatment options today.

In western countries, the standard treatment is Internal Fixation (IF or IMN) - nails or plates are surgically inserted into the fractured bones to provide internal support. This procedure damages bone, can lead to infections and inflammation, may need to be repeated, is subject to frequent breakage of implanted devices, is high cost, and carries all the risk and discomfort of any significant surgery.

In addition, even successful surgery must be followed by a an extremely long (often 1 - 2 years) recuperation period including weeks of inconvenient and costly physical therapy.

A smaller number of patients are treated with External Fixation (EF), in which a metal frame is worn outside of the skin, attached to the bone with pins or screws. While external fixation avoids some of the problems of surgery, it brings many of its own. Motion of the screws in the bone frequently leads to bone infection, it involves very lengthy treatment (typically 16 - 48 weeks), and trauma surgeons are generally skeptical of its clinical outcomes.

What trauma surgeons (and their patients) desperately need is a third option. They need an option that provides the benefits of both Internal and External fixation, while avoiding the very significant drawbacks of both.

Thanks to the Orthopedica REF, starting in 2023, they will have it.