PTH 1-34 (teriparatide) may not improve healing in proximal humerus fractures. A randomized, controlled study of 40 patients

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Teriparatide and Parathyroid Hormone (PTH 1-84) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

So far, only 3 papers on PTH and fracture repair in humans have been published.

This study was carried out to determine whether teriparatide enhances fracture healing of proximal humerus fractures.

At randomization, the patients were asked to assess how their pain at rest and during activity (visual analog scale (VAS)) and also function (DASH score) had been prior to the fracture.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, women only.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Teriparatide group and the comparison group should start out alike.

At 7 weeks and again at 3 months, their current state was assessed and the tests were repeated, including radiographs. 2 radiologists performed a blind qualitative scoring of the callus at 7 weeks.

Callus formation was arbitrarily classified as "normal" or "better".

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Fracture Fixation, Fracture Healing, Injury Severity Score, Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal, Parathyroid Hormone, Radiography and Risk Assessment.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Teriparatide and Parathyroid Hormone (PTH 1-84).

Results are reported in around 4 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2016 (Acta orthopaedica), a journal based in Sweden.

More context: the Teriparatide compound page and the Parathyroid Hormone (PTH 1-84) compound page, all human trials.