The local and systemic effects of immune function on fracture healing.

The immune system plays an integral role in the regulation of cellular processes responsible for fracture healing. Local and systemic influences on fracture healing correlate in many ways with fracture-related outcomes, including soft tissue healing quality and fracture union rates. Impaired soft tissue healing, restricted perfusion of a fracture site, and infection also in turn affect the immune response to fracture injury. Modern techniques used to investigate the relationship between immune system function and fracture healing include precision medicine, using vast quantities of data to interpret broad patterns of inflammatory response. Early data from the PRECISE trial have demonstrated distinct patterns of inflammatory response in polytrauma patients, which thereby directly and indirectly regulate the fracture healing response. The clearly demonstrated linkage between immune function and fracture healing suggests that modulation of immune function has significant potential as a therapeutic target that can be used to enhance fracture healing.

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

No conflict of interest for all authors and no funding received. Authors of this study wish to acknowledge the Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium (METRC) for its contribution to the PRECISE Trial results reported in this manuscript.