NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An injection of a patient's own bone-forming cells or "osteoblasts" can speed the healing of fractures, according to a new report.

"While fractures generally will eventually heal, bone union can frequently be delayed to the extent that it requires bone transplantation," lead author Dr. Seok-Jung Kim, from Catholic University College of Medicine, Seoul, said in a statement. "Although bone transplant remains the most effective method of bone union, osteoblast injections provide an alternative which can be performed under local anesthesia with no requirement for surgery."

The findings are based on a study, described in the journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, of 64 patients with fractures of the arms and legs who were randomly assigned to receive osteoblast injection or no treatment.

Osteoblasts were derived from bone marrow taken from pelvic bone during fracture surgery. Using special laboratory techniques, the bone marrow cells were induced to become osteoblasts, which, in turn, were grown and increased in numbers over a 24-day period.

Osteoblast injection into the fracture area, under local anesthesia, was associated with a marked increase in fracture healing at 1 and 2 months compared to the rate of healing seen in the comparison group, the report indicates.

The osteoblast injections were generally well tolerated and no specific complications were noted, the authors report.

The findings support osteoblast injection as a safe and effective treatment alternative to patients with fractures of the arms and legs, Kim concluded.

SOURCE: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, online February 12th, 2009.

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