Can vibration therapy increase bone length?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A randomised controlled trial (RCT) investigating the effect of vibration therapy on the rate of growth in length of tibial and femoral bones in the shorter leg of children 6-12 years of age with leg-length discrepancy (LLD).
IRAS ID
155851
Contact name
Mary Fewtrell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
ICH - UCL
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 2 days
Research summary
This randomised trial will test whether vibration therapy can increase bone-growth in length of the tibia and femur of the shorter leg in healthy children aged 6-12 years who have a small (clinically insignificant) leg-length difference (LLD. The aim is to test the potential of this safe, non-invasive and cost-effective method for levelling leg-length in children who have much larger LLD which may currently need surgery, in order to minimise longterm musculoskeletal disability.
Children will be randomised to intervention or control groups. All children will have monthly measurement of leg length (LL) for a 15 month period by portable Ultrasound / LASER, which is safe, accurate, reproducible and validated against standing digital x-ray measurement. Intervention group children will receive vibration therapy 3 times per week between months 6 and 9 using a vibration platform.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0150
Date of REC Opinion
7 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion