Fracture healing: mechanisms and interventions

Fractures are the most common large-organ, traumatic injuries to humans. The repair of bone fractures is a postnatal regenerative process that recapitulates many of the ontological events of embryonic skeletal development. Although fracture repair usually restores the damaged skeletal organ to its pre-injury cellular composition, structure and biomechanical function, about 10% of fractures will not heal normally. This article reviews the...