What is orthobiologics? – Sanford Health News

In the past few years, you may have heard the terms orthobiologics or regenerative medicine being thrown around with a bit more regularity.

But, what actually are they? If you ask Tiffany Facile, the clinical director ofregenerative medicine at Sanford Health, its as simple as fighting injuries with ones own resources.

Facile said this less invasive treatment can be an alternative to surgery. Orthobiologics may decreasethe need for pain medication, accelerate healing, and improve recovery, according to Facile.

But, in order to understand orthobiologics, Facile said one also needs to understand regenerative medicine as a whole.

Orthobiologics is a part of regenerative medicine, which uses natural substances, or biologics, from ones own body as an attempt to treat musculoskeletal injuries, tendon injuries, muscle injuries, (and) osteoarthritis, said Facile.

Regenerative medicine is an area of medicine that utilizes cells to treat, repair, or regrow organ tissues. While its not understood what these cells are doing, its believed that they are repairing and decreasing inflammation, which can then improve the repair process in a particular injury, she explained.

Donella Herman, M.D.is a sports medicine specialist atSanford Orthopedics and Sports Medicinein Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

She said orthobiologics could be considered narrow, as opposed to the broad scope of regenerative medicine.

In orthobiologics, we focus on using platelet rich plasma and therapeutic cells.

For regenerative medicine, theyre doing things like growing cells, utilizing other peoples cells to fight cancer. Its a broader term, and a broader thing, said Dr. Herman.

She, Facile, and others on the team at Sanford have narrowed their therapies to specifically platelet rich plasma and therapeutic cells, in an attempt to treat musculoskeletal injuries.

Dr. Herman said the cells they use are derived from either bone or adipose tissue. Meaning, they use cells from a patients bone, or an area on their body with more fat. Those areas are rich in regenerative cells, including stem cells.

For some of you reading this, you may have thought, OK, this seems really great.

Then, we said the polarizing words: stem cells.

We get it. Theres a stigma.

But, why is there one? If you ask Dr. Herman, its because of the snake oil salesman who is just trying to get rich and leave town.

Weve had these pop-up shops all over the country. People promising the moon with these therapies and saying its going to do all these amazing things. You dont have to go far into the internet to have someone tell you that stem cells or platelets will fix everything.

I joke that if I believed all the hype, Id put it on my breakfast cereal. But, the problem is that theres these people who are out there hyping it up only for profits, said Dr. Herman.

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And, since the beginning, Sanford Health has explored this treatment option for one reason, and one reason only: giving any patient any available option.

Not for profits.

Theres a lot of people that dont have your best interest in mind who are performing these procedures. Were testing to make sure theres no bacterial contamination, making sure theres no signs of infection, and were testing the cells to make sure theyre viable.

I think thats what makes Sanford stand out. We have rigorous safety measures that were using, because the FDA is watching us. Were the only people who the FDA has approved to watch for this, she said.

Facile says this is one of the most challenging parts of orthobiologics, because theres still so much to learn.

The potential is there for many musculoskeletal conditions, but we lack high quality studies to guide our decision making. Because of this, one needs to speak with a trained care provider like Dr. Herman, said Facile.

Thats ultimately a provider and patients decision to determine benefits, through shared decision-making, education and information.

We cannot replace surgical interventions. This is an offering for those that may not want surgery, or may not qualify for surgery to give them an opportunity to get their quality of life back.

Posted In Innovations, Orthopedics, Sioux Falls, Specialty Care, Sports Medicine

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What is orthobiologics? - Sanford Health News