History of bone acoustic in fracture diagnosis: crepitus in antiquity; bone percussion with Auenbrugger; bone auscultation with Laennec and Lisfranc; monitoring cementless hip arthroplasty fixation with acoustic and sensor

Purpose

The problems posed by trauma, fractures, and dislocations have not changed in human history. The traumas of prehistoric persons were similar to those observed by Imhotep, Hippocrates, and Galen or, more recently, by Ambroise Paré, Watson Jones, and Böhler. And the current road traumas are probably no more severe than those caused by mammoths, the construction of the pyramids, or middle age wars. Diagnostic methods have evolved, and the advent of radiography has revolutionized the diagnosis of traumatology. Before discovering radiography, another physical phenomenon made it possible to help in the diagnosis of fractures. This physical phenomenon is acoustic.

Methods

Curiously, no history of acoustics in fracture diagnosis has been published so far. This article proposes briefly reviewing the history and evolution of acoustics in orthopaedic surgery from antiquity to the present day.

Results

Before the invention of radiography by Conrad Roentgen in 1895, the surgeons described crepitus as the most critical sign of fractures in antiquity. Surgeons remarked during the eighteenth and nineteenth century that bone was a good sound-conductor. Physicians improved first the diagnosis of fractures by using percussion established by Auenbrugger in 1755. The principle of chest mediate auscultation with a stethoscope was described by Laennec in 1818. Lisfranc used the stethoscope to amplify the crepitus sound of fractures. Surgeons also developed association of percussion and auscultation with a stethoscope to diagnose and reduce fracture. Recently, acoustic emission technology has seen a recent increase in applications to prevent femur fractures during cementless fixation.

Conclusion

The acoustic properties of bones were known to a prehistoric person who knew how to make flutes from animal or human bones. Surgeons used them for the diagnosis of fractures before radiography. Acoustic properties of bones currently remain a subject of research for the prevention of fractures.