According to Stem Cell Reviews, it is estimated that as many as 128M individuals in the United States, or 1 in 3 people might benefit from regenerative medicine. Those statistics are eye-opening for the nurse life care planner because regenerative medicine will eventually become a viable treatment modality for so many of those individuals with whom the nurse life care planner is called upon to assist with preparation of a future care plan.
Regenerative medicine is the process of creating living, functional tissues to repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to damage or congenital defects (Wikipedia 2014). Regenerative medicine includes applications that affect many tissues and organs in the body, including the nervous system. …show more content…
Harvesting the cells can be done in a doctor’s office in which the area of the hip is numbed using Novocain. Once numbed, a specialized large bore needle is used to penetrate through the skin and cortex of the bone into the marrow cavity. The liquid marrow is then withdrawn into a syringe, which is then placed in a specialized centrifuge. The marrow is spun and the stem cells are highly concentrated and passed into a new syringe from which the injection(s) are given. This procedure takes about an hour. (Tortland & Kozar 2015)
According to Dr. Paul Tortland, the injections consisting of stem cells are given under direct ultrasound guidance (or fluoroscopic guidance) to insure both accurate and safe administration of the stem cells. Following injection, for weight bearing joints, patients need to avoid bearing weight for 24-48 hours. But it is critical that the joint not be immobilized. Gentle protected movement is critical to stimulate healing. For non-weightbearing joints, gentle protected movement is also encouraged but forceful or aggressive activities, such as sports, is …show more content…
Treatment protocols are rapidly changing. As a result, protocols, methodology and costs can vary across the country. Stem cell injections are not used as first line but rather for the treatment of conditions that have failed or have not responded completely to other more conservative treatments. (See table 1) At Valley Sports Physicians and Orthopedic Medicine located in Connecticut, when the stem cells are injected into a joint, the protocol includes a dextrose mixed Prolotherapy treatment first, 3-4 days before the stem cell procedure. Prolotherapy involves injecting a small amount of a mixture of Novocain and hypertonic dextrose directly at the site of damage to stimulate normal healing. The body heals by inflammation. For example, when an athlete has a hard work out and hurts after it, this occurs because the workout has inflamed the muscles. The normal inflammatory healing reaction is what will not only repair the damage from the workout, but also cause the muscle physiology to actually change to make the muscle fibers bigger, stronger and have more blood supply. Prolotherapy is a treatment that stimulate the normal healing reaction. The mixture of Novocain and hypertonic dextrose acts as an irritant, and creates a local inflammatory reaction, which helps prepare the joint, biologically, for the healing process generated by the stem cells. Like exercise, prolotherapy can cause structures like
Regenerative medicine is the process of creating living, functional tissues to repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to damage or congenital defects (Wikipedia 2014). Regenerative medicine includes applications that affect many tissues and organs in the body, including the nervous system. …show more content…
Harvesting the cells can be done in a doctor’s office in which the area of the hip is numbed using Novocain. Once numbed, a specialized large bore needle is used to penetrate through the skin and cortex of the bone into the marrow cavity. The liquid marrow is then withdrawn into a syringe, which is then placed in a specialized centrifuge. The marrow is spun and the stem cells are highly concentrated and passed into a new syringe from which the injection(s) are given. This procedure takes about an hour. (Tortland & Kozar 2015)
According to Dr. Paul Tortland, the injections consisting of stem cells are given under direct ultrasound guidance (or fluoroscopic guidance) to insure both accurate and safe administration of the stem cells. Following injection, for weight bearing joints, patients need to avoid bearing weight for 24-48 hours. But it is critical that the joint not be immobilized. Gentle protected movement is critical to stimulate healing. For non-weightbearing joints, gentle protected movement is also encouraged but forceful or aggressive activities, such as sports, is …show more content…
Treatment protocols are rapidly changing. As a result, protocols, methodology and costs can vary across the country. Stem cell injections are not used as first line but rather for the treatment of conditions that have failed or have not responded completely to other more conservative treatments. (See table 1) At Valley Sports Physicians and Orthopedic Medicine located in Connecticut, when the stem cells are injected into a joint, the protocol includes a dextrose mixed Prolotherapy treatment first, 3-4 days before the stem cell procedure. Prolotherapy involves injecting a small amount of a mixture of Novocain and hypertonic dextrose directly at the site of damage to stimulate normal healing. The body heals by inflammation. For example, when an athlete has a hard work out and hurts after it, this occurs because the workout has inflamed the muscles. The normal inflammatory healing reaction is what will not only repair the damage from the workout, but also cause the muscle physiology to actually change to make the muscle fibers bigger, stronger and have more blood supply. Prolotherapy is a treatment that stimulate the normal healing reaction. The mixture of Novocain and hypertonic dextrose acts as an irritant, and creates a local inflammatory reaction, which helps prepare the joint, biologically, for the healing process generated by the stem cells. Like exercise, prolotherapy can cause structures like