Studies

Dr. Rick Mitchell

Emerald Downs, Auburn, WA
Presentation Transcribed

A year and a half ago these gentlemen approached myself and a number of other practitioners on the East Coast that were involved with sport horse and racing medicine and came to us with the idea that there might be some kind of application for tendon and ligament repair in a horse with this device. In listening to what they had to say and listening to Dr. Badylak, who is an amazing individual as is Dr.Spievack. Their knowledge and understanding of the biochemistry of this whole process is rather amazing, But, in listening to them, I think they originally came to us with the idea perhaps that we would use some of the ACell membrane as an implant to help with tendon lacerations, ligament tears, and that sort of thing. We all know in the equine practice that is by far the minority of the type of tendon and ligament injuries that we see. I inquired at that point; Can we powder this material since it is a stimulatory agent of sorts? Why do we need for it to be in a fixed scaffold if we deposit it in tissue that is relatively dense that it won’t escape? Can we inject it perhaps and use it that way? So we came up with this idea to try it that way and thus this little project was born.

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Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the ACell Vet UBM powder as a treatment for musculotendinous and/or ligamentous repair in equine patients

Participants: Rick Mitchell, DVM, Cooper Williams, VMD, Larry Wohlford, DVM

Results Summary
Horses with evidence of a focal/localized tendon or ligament leg injury, confirmed and documented with diagnostic ultrasound, were entered into this study. The types of lesions treated included Suspensory Ligament (Chronic Desmitis, Tear, Core Lesion), and Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon (Tear, Diffuse, Core Lesion). 29 horses were randomly placed in two groups and were evaluated by the attending veterinarian for a total of 12 weeks:

Group 1: 20 horses received conventional treatment (shockwave, hydrotherapy, support, poultice, NSAIDS, activity/exercise) as prescribed by the attending veterinarian plus 0.2gms of the ACell Vet powder suspended in 6 ml of sterile saline injected into the lesion.
Group 2: 9 horses received only conventional treatment as prescribed by the attending veterinarian.