Stem cell and tissue engineering approaches in pressure ulcer treatment

Pressure ulcers or injuries, arise from ischemic damage to soft tissues induced by unrelieved pressure over a bony prominence. They are usually difficult to treat with standard medical therapy and often they recur. In the search for better treatment options, promising alternative forms of treatment are today emerging. Within the field of regenerative medicine, ongoing research on advanced therapies seeks to develop medicinal products based on gene therapy, somatic cell therapy, tissue-engineering and combinations of these.

The main objective is to perform an overview of experimental and clinical developments in somatic cell therapy and tissue engineering targeting the treatment of pressure injuries.

Searching terms as "PRESSURE ULCER", "STEM CELL THERAPY", "TISSUE ENGINEERING" or "WOUND HEALING" were used in combination or alone, including publications refered to basic and clinical research and focusing on articles showing results obtained in a clinical context. A total of 80 references are cited, including 23 references published in the 3 last years.

The results suggest that this form of treatment could be an interesting option in patients with difficult-to-treat ulcers as spinal cord injury patients.

This field of regenerative medicine is very broad and further research is warranted.