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Dr. Emil Schemitsch can offer new hope for patients with severe traumatic fractures or fractures of fragile, osteoporosis-damaged bone.

Snap!  Exactly the sound you don't want to hear when you fall down.  When bones break they are subjected to forces they cannot withstand.  This can be a traumatic high-energy event such as a major fall or motor vehicle accident, or a chronic application of low-energy force that degrades the bone over time.  When the bone can no longer absorb the energy, a fracture occurs.

"When we're young and when bone is healthy, it is often a simple matter to repair a fracture," says Dr. Emil Schemitsch, Head of Orthopaedic Surgery at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.   "Healthy bone is constantly renewing itself, absorbing old cells and creating new ones to replace them."

"In order for a fracture to heal properly, the broken ends have to be properly aligned and kept stable so the bone can ‘grow' together," explains Dr. Schemitsch.

For young people, a traditional cast is often enough to immobilize the broken ends of the bone.  However, casts are not always enough to create the necessary stability for bone regeneration.

For many active adults, casts may not provide adequate alignment or sufficient stability.  These patients may require surgery to insert pins, plates, screws or rods in order to align the broken bone ends and fix them in place.  Traditional plates and screws have been used for decades as a means to support broken bones but the conventional plate has limitations. 

Sometimes the bone is brittle and fragile, or "osteoporotic", as is often the case in people suffering from osteoporosis.  In other cases, the bone may be very badly shattered, or "comminuted" due to severe trauma.  When this happens, traditional plates are not suitable because it is difficult or impossible to attach them to the damaged bone.  The brittle bones break, or the shattered bones simply can't hold a screw.

Orthopaedic surgeons now have a new option when treating serious fractures.  Locking Plates are a new technology that provides strong support in fractures with osteoporotic or comminuted bone.  Locking Plates are also contoured to the proper shape of the bone and can be fixed in the correct shape and position using screws that lock into the plate - not into the bone.  Essentially, they fit over the damaged bone and allow the bone to repair itself.

"Locking Plates can be attached without putting excess pressure on the bone," says Dr. Schemitsch.  "As our population ages and the incidence of osteoporosis increases, we will rely more and more on this type of technology...before, we may not have been able to properly repair a severe fracture, leaving some trauma and osteoporosis patients with impaired mobility and more dependent on aids or care givers."

If this technology were not present, the chance of the bone not healing or healing in a poor position would be increased. Moreover, the chance of the fixation failing and the need for another operation would be higher. The presence of nonunion or fixation failure or poor alignment would result in the need for more surgeries and if all failed might even result in amputation. During this time, patients might be in hospital, require the use of a walker or be confined to a wheelchair and potentially lose the use of a limb and subsequently their independence.

Technology Overview

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