Treatments

A Breakthrough Treatment for Tendon and Ligament Injuries

Your Horse and ACell Vet™

The Basics

ACell Vet™, Inc. Through new advances in the field of regenerative medicine, ACell Vet™ offers your veterinarian better treatment outcomes and improved quality of life for patients. The ACell Vet™ product is a naturally occurring biologic product that fundamentally alters the way animals respond to wound healing by providing a favorable environment for cell growth at the site of damaged, weakened or missing tissues. Now, even in the most difficult of cases, repairing damaged or lost tissues can often be accomplished easily and with predictable results.

The ACell Vet™ product fundamentally changes healing by triggering abundant new blood vessel formation and recruiting numerous cell types to the wound site. It appears that these cells, including stem cells, have the potential to differentiate, organize and develop into numerous types of site specific tissues. During the healing process, the ACell Vet™ scaffold is gradually degraded and completely resorbed leaving only new tissue where scar tissue would normally be expected as a typical healing response.

Tendon & Ligament Treatment

Introduction

ACell Vet™ has introduced a new breakthrough treatment using regenerative medicine for equine tendon and ligament injuries. Recently featured in scientific presentations at the British Equine Veterinarians Association 2004 Congress and the American College of Veterinary Surgeons 2004 Symposium as well as being featured in both The Horse and Thoroughbred Times, the ACell Vet™ Powder has received international recognition by many leading equine veterinarians.

In the initial multi-center study which examined the treatment of ligament and tendon injuries, it was shown that 100% of the horses treated with the ACell Vet™ Powder resumed conditioning workouts within 3 months of treatment while control horses receiving conventional therapy alone were still convalescing. More importantly, ultrasound analysis revealed that the injuries had healed with the site appropriate new tissue containing appropriate longitudinal fibers along the lines of the stress.

The longer term follow-up results are equally impressive. In reviewing the animals that had received treatment a minimum of six months prior to the data collection 77 out of 91 cases, 84.6%, had returned to full work/function. More impressively approximately 50% were one year or greater post treatment, and the percentages were essentially equivalent to those in the total sampling.

The Treatment

After the preliminary diagnosis of a tendon or ligament injury, your veterinarian will perform an ultrasound examination on your horse to confirm the diagnosis as well as accurately determine the location and severity of the injury. This secondary examination is usually performed approximately one week after the injury, as the initial swelling and bruising can affect the accuracy of the ultrasound diagnosis.

Upon confirming the diagnosis, your veterinarian will sedate your horse and inject a mixture of the ACell Vet™ Powder directly into the affected tendon or ligament. The ACell Vet™ Powder acts as a framework for the horse's own circulating stem cells to populate and differentiate into site appropriate, functional tissue, instead of the less elastic scar tissue seen with conventional therapies.

Rehabilitation

Exercise is a very important part of the rehabilitation process as the ACell Vet™ product requires physiological stress on the tissue to achieve optimal results. Controlled physical activity is highly recommended. It should also be noted that the rate at which a patient recovers from an injury can be dependent upon many variables, including location and severity of the injury, general health of the horse, and even the age of the horse.

If your horse is not boarded at your veterinarian's location, it is imperative that all persons involved with the care, rehabilitation and training of your horse fully understand and follow the rehabilitation program prescribed by your veterinarian. It is recommended that each patient by closely evaluated weekly and appropriate progress noted before continuing to increase activity at any stage.

Additional Tendon & Ligament Case Studies

Regulatory Compliance and ACell Vet™ Veterinary Medical Devices

All ACell Vet™ UBM products, regardless of form (sheet, granule, powder, gel) are medical devices and are manufactured in the United States under a Quality Management System that is based on the FDA's Good Manufacturing Practices (21 CFR Part 820). Use of the ACell Vet UBM products in veterinary treatments according to the product instructions is fully compliant with U.S. FDA laws and regulations. Download the entire "Regulatory Compliance and ACell Vet™ Veterinary Medical Devices" PDF Document

Treatment for equine musculotendinous and ligamentous injuries using UBM

These competition horses put quite a lot of stress on their bodies, particularly the upper level horses. We are going to address some of those issues that they have today and how we handle them. Download the entire "Treatment for equine musculotendinous and ligamentous injuries using UBM" PDF Document

Overview of Procedures Used by Practicing Veterinarians for Percutaneous Injection of the ACell Vet™ Powder for Treatment of Equine Tendon and Ligament Injuries

This document is offered as a courtesy, and provides an overview of the general protocol utilized by one of the primary investigators of the efficacy of ACell Vet™ Powder for the treatment of equine tendon and ligament injuries. The actual treatment protocol utilized should be based on the assessment of each individual case by the attending veterinarian. Consequently, this document is provided for background and informational purposes only. Download the entire "Overview of Procedures" PDF File

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

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. Download the entire "Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the ACell Vet™ UBM powder" PDF Document

Treatment of Tendon and Ligament Injuries with ACell Vet™ UBM Powder

The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the therapeutic value of ACell Vet™ Urinary Bladder Matrix Powder (UBM) for tissue regeneration and return to function in tendon and ligament injuries of the equine limb. Assessment of response was by review of lameness evaluation, physical characteristics of involved structures, and visible improvement of identified ultrasound lesions in affected structures. Download the entire "Treatment of Tendon and Ligament Injuries" PDF Document