Using Stem Cells to Accelerate Bone Healing
MD News Eastern PA (April 2010 issue)
Conventional bone grafts are safe but potentially painful for
patients. Alternatives include an inexpensive method of
harvesting stem cells available now, while research into
allograft stem cells could eliminate intrusion into the body in
the future.
There is an extremely high rate of pain associated with
traditional autografting, where stem cells and the bony matrix
are harvested from the iliac crest. Even in the hands of
experts, the residual pain can be from 5 to 30%. Autografting
has a history of success, but a small percentage of cases
include complications, such as a fracture of the pelvis.
Minimally invasive needle aspiration harvest of cells from the iliac crest is
associated with very little morbidity compared to the open harvest procedure.
“Our procedure is much easier — we aspirate and concentrate the cells using a
centrifuge to obtain 5,000 progenitor cells per cc of volume,” says William G. De
Long, Jr., M.D., Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery for St. Luke’s Hospital and Health
Network and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Anatomy and Cell Biology at Temple
University School of Medicine. “That level of concentration can really accelerate
healing in the bone region where the biologic field requires stimulation.”
Programs that wish to adopt this method require modest start-up costs to purchase
a centrifuge, but the procedure is not a technical challenge.
“If you have a perfusion team for cardiac surgery, you may already have a
centrifuge needed to concentrate harvested cells,” says Dr. De Long. “Although the
biologic aspect of orthopedics has not been a part of many orthopaedists’ training,
these type of applications will continue developing.”
Future Applications
Dr. De Long feels there should be a study to validate the effectiveness of allograft
stem cell preparation, which includes the separation of progenitor cells — that will
do the job of adult stem cells — from the cells that can create an immune response.
“If the current proprietary process really is a source for progenitor cells, it will help
us treat lower extremity injuries, such as those seen in the armed forces,” says Dr.
De Long. “It’s hard to make medical progress in a closed medical society that exists
in some countries, but in North America there are a lot of good things on the
horizon in the area of orthopaedic biogenics.”
For more information about Dr. De Long's stem cell research in orthopaedics,
contact his office at 610-954-1735.