An experimental study of ultrasound-phoresis of Chinese herb in accelerating fracture healing

Objective To explore the effect of ultrasound-phoresis of Chinese herb in the treatment of fracture healing on rats. Methods The animal model of femur fracture was established in 36 rats, who were divided into 4 groups after operation. The rats in the ultrasound group were given ultrasound treatment daily. The herbal group was given Chinese herb applied on the fracture site. The experimental group was given ultrasound-phoresis of Chinese herb on the site of fracture. The control group was housed without any treatment. All rats were sacrificed at 30 days and the bony callus were harvested and observed with histological and immunohistochemical examination. Results The histological examination showed that the appearance of cartilaginous and bony callus in the experimental group were earlier than those in other groups, lImmunohistochemical examination showed that the expression of collagen I in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in ultrasound group and herbal group （ P 〈 0.05 ）, and as well as control group （P 〈0.01 ）. Conclusion Ultrasound-phoresis of Chinese herb might be effective in accelera-ting fracture healing, which might be through increasing collagen Ⅰ snythesis in callus. Key words: Chinese herb;  Ultrasound-phoresis;  Fracture