The Power of Fat
A living testament, Dr. C. Brandon Broome is an orthopedic specialist and a lipogems patient himself. Dr. Broome specializes in less invasive hip and knee replacement surgery performing nearly 400 joint replacement procedures each year.
While treating forms of arthritis and aches and pains in the body, Dr. Broome and the San Antonio Orthopædic Specialists team focus on more than just the end result (surgery). They focus on the entire continuum of care.
“What can we do in the early game, when you first start having knee or hip pain, to prevent the arthritis from progressing to the point where you need joint replacement?”
Those are the types of thoughts, Dr. Broome has when taking care of his patients.
While replacement surgery is, sometimes, necessary, non-surgical alternatives have become very popular in recent years and very effective for treating some orthopedic issues.
To most, stem cells are what comes to mind when seeking non-surgical alternatives for orthopedic issues. However, there's a bit of a misunderstanding in the medical world today regarding stem cells. Many places advertise stem cells as the “end-all-be-all” regenerative medicinal concept and that is not necessarily the case.
What orthopedic specialists know in the lab is that the stem cells in the joint don't lead to the regeneration of cartilage. If the right armamentarium of cells are there, these do have a profound effect on stopping the breakdown of the cartilage and making what you have there healthier.
In the stem cell realm, orthopedicians want signaling cells, not just stem cells. They want the whole armamentarium of cells that once put together, the cells will signal to each other to take action to perform and produce the desired result.
The Injections
Our fat tissue, or medically known as adipose tissue, is very rich in signaling cells. It has the highest proportion of signaling cells than any other part of the body.
Because of this, in the last couple of years, adipose tissue injections have become very popular. Adipose tissue, commonly known as fat, has many natural reparative (not to be confused with regenerative) characteristics that help nurture healing in the body. Research has shown that as a person ages, their fat maintains its reparative properties unlike other similar tissue, such as bone marrow (tissue that produces stem cells), which loses its healing capacity with age.
With this knowledge, lipogems was created. Lipogems is a disposable, single-use, FDA-approved medical device for processing fat for same-day injections (creates adipose tissue injections).
Lipogems is ideal for patients that have an orthopedic condition, are unable to get major, invasive surgery, or are seeking non-surgical alternatives. Even those who undergo surgery can use lipogems in conjunction with their procedure.
The Process
Under local anesthesia, the fat (adipose tissue) is taken from the abdomen through a small incision in the skin—a virtually painless process. The lipogems (device) then washes the fat tissue to remove the inflammatory oils and blood but preserves the natural and beneficial properties of the tissue. The resulting regenerative tissue graft is then injected into the injured area using high-precision ultrasound guidance.
The First-Hand Experience
“This has been a very successful procedure for us. I've done close to 40 of them in the last couple of years. I had it done myself a year and a half ago, so I'm a big testament to it [since] my own knee is very bad. I've had seven surgeries and this has been a very successful treatment option for me, and has made a huge result in my own function in my daily life.”- Dr. Broome
San Antonio Orthopædic Specialists is a patient-focused practice committed to providing you and your loved ones the care and attention you deserve. Our highly experienced specialists are dedicated to providing the highest quality orthopedic services.
Schedule an appointment with Dr. Broome or any of our orthopedic specialists at San Antonio Orthopædic Specialists.