Orthopedics today: Non-union fractures healed by bone marrow cells

Researchers from the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hopstial and Keele University in United Kingdom performed a study of thirty-five patients with non-union fractures (fractures that do not heal). The cells from these sites showed decreased potential for bone regeneration and it was thought Therefore, each of these patients received a bone marrow-derived mesenchymal cells injection on one side and a placebo (serum) on the other side of the fracture. Then six independent investigators reviewed the images and the results thus far show positive results on the side that received marrow cells compared to the side of the fracture that received only placebo.