Injection into a fracture
Scientists have created a cellular drug for bone fusion
The new technique is already being used by doctors for particularly complex injuries
Maria Nedyuk, Izvestia
Russian scientists have developed a unique method of bone fusion. To do this, a drug based on the patient's stem cells is used. Its use allows you to avoid repeated painful surgery, eliminate the development of false joints and bone defects, as well as speed up the rehabilitation process. The technique is already being implemented in clinical practice.
The method of rapid fusion of bone tissue in complex injuries was developed at the Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics of the N.N. Priorov National Research Medical Center.
First, a part of the bone marrow from the iliac wing is taken from a patient with delayed bone fusion during fracture fixation by the Ilizarov apparatus.
– Stem cells are isolated from it, – Alexander Ochkurenko, Vice-president of the Association of Traumatologists and Orthopedists of Russia, head of the organizational and methodological department of the N.N. Priorov National Research Medical Center, told Izvestia. – Then they are placed in a bioreactor, where they are grown in a colony on nutrient media for 10-14 days, and then transplanted to the fracture area.
The cellular drug itself is injected by the doctor into the patient. Such a "cellular injection" accelerates the process of bone fusion several times, as stem cells fill the crack and turn into bone cells.
– This avoids repeated surgery, – said Alexander Ochkurenko. – But most importantly, we warn of slow consolidation, that is, fusion. As a result, the patient will not be on sick leave for 5-6 months. He will not develop false joints and bone defects. Patients with such pathologies leave for disability, therefore the state incurs large economic losses for repeated operations and payment of sick leave. With the help of new technologies, we will be able to avoid this.
Also, the developed technique can be used in the treatment of such congenital pathology as a shortened limb in children. In this case, the child's leg or arm is lengthened on the Ilizarov apparatus, and as a result, a so–called distraction regenerate is formed - new bone tissue. However, if it does not mature well, it can be pricked with stem cells, thereby speeding up the healing process and rebuilding the distraction regenerate into bone tissue.
Developed by scientists from the Center named after Prior's technique is a breakthrough in traumatology, according to Grigory Slizovsky, head of the Department of Pediatric Surgical Diseases of the Siberian State Medical University.
– I think that any practitioner who deals with the problems of non-fusion of the bone structure will be only too happy to introduce the method of administration of a drug for the formation of a callus. This will facilitate the work of doctors. Professor Georgy Dambayev once worked on this in Tomsk. These were experiments on the cultivation of pancreatic cells and the formation of bone components, – said Grigory Slizovsky.
Albert Rizvanov, head of the research laboratory "Gene and Cell Technologies" of the IFMiB of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, is also confident that the use of stem cells in regenerative medicine is a very promising direction.
– The so-called autologous (proprietary) mesenchymal stem cells taken from the bone marrow are used in the work of the staff of the N.N. Priorov NMICT. These cells have a pronounced osteogenic potential, that is, they are able to turn into bone cells. In addition, they stimulate the germination of new blood vessels, thereby improving the nutrition of the tissue, and therefore accelerating the healing processes.
The technique is already used in clinical practice, but so far only according to indications. Widespread use of the new method of bone fusion will be possible when the law on the use of cellular products comes into full force in Russia.
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