MELBOURNE, August 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Adult stem cells have helped to accelerate the healing of severe leg fractures in Australian trials. The trial involved five men and four women who had suffered the worst type of compound bone fractures in serious road accidents, some of whom still could not walk up to 41 months after their accidents.
One man who suffered a compound fracture and was still using crutches a year later, regained the use of his leg the day after the procedure and is now fully recovered, pain free and regularly runs and plays football. Eight of the ten patients experienced full bone regrowth. One man broke both his tibia and femur but only the tibia re-grew. Another patient required further surgery.
The technique was developed by Dr. Richard de Steiger, director of orthopaedic surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, who told media that his team hopes it can be applied to hip replacement procedures as well as accidental injuries. The technology was developed by the hospital's regenerative medicine company, Mesoblast, which has the worldwide licence to commercialise. Dr. de Steiger said it is between three and five years away from being used in hospitals.
This would have come in clutch for my sister, but thank God she is not in the situation as described above: still on crutches 41 months after her accident. For those wondering, she has started walking without any kind of assistance!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are valued greatly. Please adhere to the decorum on the "First time here?" page. Comments that are in violation of any of the rules will be deleted without notice.
3/11 Update - No Moderation
*Non-anonymous commenting is preferred to avoid mix-ups. Anonymous comments are, at the behest of management, more likely to be deleted than non-anonymous comments.