Zeitschrift für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie
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In Germany, 800,000 fractures are treated per year, and up to 10 % of these patients may suffer subsequently from a delayed union or a nonunion at the fracture site. Surgical treatment of these complications is tedious and associated with high costs. ⋯ The adjuvant treatment with ultrasound has been propagated for the past years to enhance fracture healing and bony union, and has been discussed controversially. This review article demonstrates the significance of the low intensity pulsed ultrasound application in fracture treatment, on the basis of basic science results, animal experiments and the results of clinical trials.
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There is a positive correlation between operation time and staff exposure to radiation during intraoperative use of C-arm fluoroscopy. Due to harmful effects of exposure to long-term low-dose radiation for both the patient and the operating team it should be kept to a minimum. AIM of this study was to evaluate a novel dosimeter system called Dose Aware® (DA) enabling radiation exposure feedback of the personal in an orthopaedic and trauma operation theatre in real-time. ⋯ The novel dosimeter system DA provides real-time radiation exposure feedback of the personnel in an orthopaedic and trauma operation theatre for the first time. Data of this study demonstrate that radiation exposure of the personnel depends on the operation type. The first assistant, the theatre nurse and the anaesthesiologist might be exposed to higher radiation doses than the surgeon. DA might help to increase awareness concerning irradiation in an orthopaedic and trauma operation theatre and might enhance staff compliance in using radiation protection techniques.