Surgeons can now get stem cells Bones, “off the shelf”
The collection of bones of the patient has always been considered the gold standard, but today, I think this concept should be considered the historical norm, said Weinraub, president of ACFAS. The quality of the material that is available in a format pre-proved to be equally effective for the healing of bones and can lead to fewer complications for the patient.As a bone graft material, stem cells can come from the patient or a laboratory, which harvest the donor cells and makes billions of copies bones.
One advantage is that there is less risk of rejection because the bone is from the body. However, complications such as bleeding and infection can occur. In addition, up to 25 % of these people may have pain in the bone graft harvest site five years later, Dr. Weinraub said.
Surgeons are now able to use stem cells, which are self-renewing cells in the body to aid healing of bone. These cells have the potential to become any cell in the body and can actually form bone, Dr. Weinraub said.
When patients need a bone graft surgery for a foot or ankle, the bone is often taken from another part of their body. Now surgeons are using new methods to get the bone material and also the right off the shelf, said Glenn M. Weinraub, DPM, FACF, one foot in California and ankle surgeon who leads a discussion among the surgeons in the next decade of bone healing at the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons’ (ACFAS) Annual Scientific Conference in Fort Lauderdale.
Advances in science are also provide some interesting alternatives to bone healing.