Intermittent pneumatic compression in fracture and soft-tissue injuries healing.

INTRODUCTION: Current methods of fracture care use various adjuncts to try and decrease time to fracture union, improve fracture union rates and enhance functional recovery. Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC), one such modality, is used in the management of both fractures and soft-tissue injuries. METHODS AND RESULTS: A search of PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, DH data and Embase databases was performed using the following keywords 'intermittent pneumatic compression', 'fracture healing' and 'soft tissue healing'. Sixteen studies on the use of IPC in fracture and soft-tissue healing were identified. These studies demonstrated that IPC facilitates both fracture and soft-tissue healing with rapid functional recovery. CONCLUSIONS: IPC appears to be an effective modality to enhance fracture and soft-tissue healing. However, the number of subjects in human studies is small, and adequately powered randomized controlled trials in humans are required to produce stronger clinically relevant evidence.