Is there a relationship between fracture healing and mean platelet volume?

Objectives: Platelet volume has been defined to be a marker that shows thrombocyte activation and function and it is measured as mean platelet volume (MPV). MPV shows the mean volume of circulating thrombocytes and it is one of the routine parameters in complete blood count. Increased thrombocyte volume is associated with thrombocyte activation.

Patients and methods: This study included 76 patients who were operated on due to fractures of long tubular bones. Patients who had union without any additional interventions were defined as group I, and patients who needed additional interventions due to nonunion or inadequate union were defined as group II. The control group included healthy volunteers who did not have a fracture. Hematologic test values of the patients that were obtained at admission to emergency ward were recorded.

Results: The groups were not statistically different in terms of age, sex, and the affected extremity. There were significant differences between group I and group II in terms of mean erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and MPV values (P<0.001), but there were no significant differences between group I and the control group. There was also no statistically significant difference among groups in terms of hematologic and biochemical variables.

Conclusion: In our study, fractures in patients who had lower MPV values than controls during the inflammation process healed without any problem, but fractures in patients with high MPV values more frequently needed additional surgical interventions.