Overview of Skeletal Repair (Fracture Healing and Its Assessment)

The study of postnatal skeletal repair is of immense clinical interest. Optimal repair of skeletal tissue is necessary in all varieties of elective and reparative orthopedic surgical treatments. However, the repair of fractures is unique in this context in that fractures are one of the most common traumas that humans experience and are the end-point manifestation of osteoporosis, the most common chronic disease of aging. In the first part of this introduction the basic biology of fracture healing is presented. The second part discusses the primary methodological approaches that are used to examine repair of skeletal hard tissue and specific considerations for choosing among and implementing these approaches.