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Lipogems Patient Info

 

Alternatives to Surgery: The Natural Way to Heal*

 

Are you looking for alternatives to orthopaedic surgery? Have you tried treatment options such as physical therapy, NSAIDS, or steroid injections have not provided significant relief?

 

Do you not qualify for surgery?

 

Did you know that your own tissue may help you heal?

Every tissue in your body is constantly repairing itself. Adipose tissue (fat) has been widely studied in literature and is known to have an innate healing potential. The use of fat was documented during World War I to aid in the healing of soldiers’ battle wounds.1 Since then, a large body of research has shown a variety of promising applications for fat in healing and regenerating damaged tissues.

 

Benefits of Your Own Fat

Your own fat has been shown a variety of promising applications in healing and regenerating damaged tissues in orthopaedic surgery.

 

• Fat is abundant in the human body
• Fat can be easily accessed and harvested using a minimally invasive procedure and local anesthesia.
• Fat contains many reparative cells that not only regenerate fat cells, but also promote a healing environment throughout the body.2, 3
• Research has shown that regardless of a person’s age, their fat maintains the reparative properties 4, 5, 6 unlike other tissues such as bone marrow, which may lose healing capacity with age.6

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Award Winning Technology

Lipogems was awarded Best New Technology in Sports Medicine in 2016 by Leading Sports Medicine Physicians

 

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What is Lipogems?

Lipogems is a cutting edge technology that gently processes and uses your body’s own fat tissue to cushion and support areas of injury or damage as your body heals itself. The fat is taken from the stomach, “love handles” or thigh areas using a local anesthetic to numb the area. Lipogems uses an FDA approved device that rinses and cleans the inflammatory oils and blood from the patient’s harvested fat and keeps the natural and beneficial properties of the fat tissue. This harvested fat is then precisely injected into the patient’s injured areas with the use of ultrasound guidance. Lipogems tends to stay in the area where it is injected instead of being reabsorbed by the body,4 allowing your body to maximize the benefits of Lipogems for an extended period of time. The Lipogems procedure can be performed in under one hour in an outpatient clinical setting or may be used in addition to your surgery to support your body in the reconstructing and repairing damaged or injured tissue. Lipogems has now been used in more than 8,000 clinical cases globally.

 

You may be a candidate for Lipogems if:

 

• You suffer from an injury or ailment that limits your normal daily functioning or physical activity
• Have a soft tissue defect in the tissue of tendons, ligaments, and muscles. In order to restore orthopaedic function, these defects require tissue repair and regeneration, as well as cushioning and support.
• Treatment options, such as physical therapy, NSAIDS, or steroid injections have not provided significant relief.
• You would like to explore Lipogems as a minimally invasive alternative to a major surgical intervention.
• Your doctor determines if it may be used in addition to your surgery.

 

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What to expect after your procedure?

 

• Your doctor will help determine what activities you can perform and put you on treatment plan. Patients should not engage in strenuous activity for at least 1-2 weeks following the procedure.
• Patients may experience mild to moderate swelling and/or local inflammation at injection site and/or site of tissue harvest for up to 4-5 days post-procedure.
• Patients may be given some pain medication and should follow your doctor’s recommendations.
• Ice may be used to reduce local inflammation/swelling.
• A compression garment maybe given to wear for a few days after the procedure.
• Patients should not take steroids following the Lipogems procedure.
• Patients may have some bruising at or around site of tissue harvest is expected.

 

Benefits

 

• Alternative to surgery or may be used in addition to your surgery
• Fat can be easily accessed and harvested using a minimally invasive procedure and local anesthesia.
• Research has shown that regardless of a person’s age, their fat maintains its reparative properties 4, 5, 6 unlike other tissues such as bone marrow, which may lose healing capacity with age. 6
• Lipogems washes your fat tissue to remove the inflammatory oils and blood but preserves the natural and beneficial properties of the tissue. Lipogems tends to stay in the area where it is injected instead of being reabsorbed by the body,1 allowing your body to maximize the benefits of Lipogems for an extended period of time
• Can be done in the office or in addition to surgery using minimally invasive, patented and proprietary FDA cleared device

 

References

 

1. Duhamel, G. (1928). Les Sept Dernières Plaies: Mercure De France.
2. Tholpady, Sunil S., Ramon Llull, Roy C. Ogle, J. Peter Rubin, J. William Futrell, and Adam J. Katz. “Adipose Tissue: Stem Cells and Beyond.” Clinics in Plastic Surgery 33.1 (2006): 55-62. Web.
3. Yoshimura, Kotaro, Hirotaka Suga, and Hitomi Eto. “Adipose-derived Stem/progenitor Cells: Roles in Adipose Tissue Remodeling and Potential Use for Soft Tissue Augmentation.” Regenerative Medicine 4.2 (2009): 265-73. Web.
4. D'ippolito, Gianluca, Paul C. Schiller, Camillo Ricordi, Bernard A. Roos, and Guy A. Howard. “Age-Related Osteogenic Potential of Mesenchymal Stromal Stem Cells from Human Vertebral Bone Marrow.” Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 14.7 (1999): 1115-122. Web.
5. Melief, S. M., J. J. Zwaginga, W. E. Fibbe, and H. Roelofs. “Adipose Tissue-Derived Multipotent Stromal Cells Have a Higher Immunomodulatory Capacity Than Their Bone Marrow-Derived Counterparts.” Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2.6 (2013): 455-63. Web.
6. Caplan, Arnold I. “Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Tissue Engineering versus Regenerative Medicine.” Journal of Cellular Physiology 213.2 (2007): 341-47. Web.