A spinal surgeon in Aurora, Colo., recently performed what's being called the first disc surgery in the United States using adult stem cells to help repair a man's injured lower back.
"Stem cells have shown great promise over the past three years for treating back pain," Dr. Jeffrey Kleiner said. "In combination with the diskectomy, we hope to offer patients long-term relief from their back pain and to decrease their risk of needing additional surgeries."
Adult stem cells have been injected into patients' backs and joints to promote tissue growth, but this is the first time stem cells have been injected during a spinal surgery, doctors said.
The bone-marrow cells used in the procedure were harvested from the middle-aged man then brought to the laboratory, where millions more were grown over three weeks using the patient's blood. Tens of millions of the cells were then injected into the man's back during a discectomy, a surgery to remove a herniated or bulging disk.
