A 61-year-old male fractured his tibia while skiing, and three months later, still had not healed (left). Patient did not want surgery, and opted to take teriparatide. After three months on the drug, the fracture (right) began to heal, and today, the patient is back to his active lifestyle.
Rarely will physicians use the word “miraculous†when discussing patient recoveries. But that’s the very phrase orthopaedic physicians and scientists are using in upstate New York to describe their emerging stem cell research that could have a profound impact on the treatment of bone injuries. Results from preliminary work being released today, patients confined to wheelchairs were able to walk or live independently again because their broken bones finally healed.