Stem Cells and Trauma

Today, I saw a patient in follow-up who had been the subject of a prior Blog. About Nine months ago, she had been involved in a very serious motor vehicle accident sustaining a comminuted (many pieces) fracture-dislocation of her talus (ankle bone), calcaneus (heel bone) , with total disruption of the subtalar joint. For reasons beyond the scope of this blog, she received improper orthopedic care at the time of injury . When I first saw her in my office six months ago, this 22 year old woman  was crutch dependent, non-weight bearing and narcotic addicted from attempts at pain control. She was unable to function. The orthopedic prognosis for reconstructive surgery was poor at best and would have required three to four major reconstructive attempts over 18 months. looming in the background was a possibility of amputation. After a comprehensive informed consent to patient and parents, I completed a stem cell intervention into the heel bone, ankle bone and subtalar joint with the hope of affecting fracture healing and stimulating a fusion of the subtatlar joint. She came in today full weight bearing in running shoes and without a limp. She no  longer takes anything for pain relief and is working full time. Most of what we do in Regenerative Medicine is related to sports medicine or the care and treatment of arthritis. I have little opportunity to intervene in a trauma setting as trauma related health care is often hospital based and patients seek out surgical options while physicians think surgical intervention. The patient discussed above is an example of the potential of stem cell intervention for trauma and reconstruction of the residuals of trauma with minimal invasion and little rehabilitation