A patient suffered a very complicated (comminuted) fracture of the neck of talus in a Superkart racing accident at the end of May 2008. He had surgery with 3 screws to stabilise the fracture.

He was told of the strong possibility of death of the talar dome (avascular necrosis) and non-union due to the poor blood supply to the talus, and also that he was likely to need a joint fusion in the future. He initially came to the Clinic non-weight-bearing in mid August after recent x-rays showed no sign of union of the fracture. He attended the Clinic for regular treatments of pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, laser therapy and LIPUS and he also had regular sessions of HBO closer to home.

X-rays in mid October showed an increase in density of the whole of the talus and no sign of any avascular necrosis. By mid November he was partially weight-bearing, and increased to fully weight-bearing over the next 2 months. Most recent x-rays have shown that the fracture has healed well and there is no avascular necrosis- the surgeon told Kevin he was very surprised at this result. He is now back at work and walking normally, and not a candidate for joint fusion.

Before treatment

After Treatment