The Role of Lipoaspirate Injection in the Treatment of Diabetic Lower Extremity Wounds and Venous Stasis Ulcers

Diabetic lower extremity wounds and venous stasis wounds are two of the most challenging, costly medical problems of our population. Moreover, the Veterans Affairs population has a very high percentage of diabetes and venous stasis wounds.

Foot ulcers are the most common reason for a diabetic patient to be admitted to the hospital, and occur in approx 25% of patients (CDC) with an average stay of 3 weeks and a cost of 25,000$/ per treatment (21,22, 23). The pathophysiology of diabetic wound healing is characterized by microcirculatory ischemia and an abnormal wound healing cascade due to glycosylated cells and proteins.

Venous stasis disease affects 10-35% of the US population (24) and is characteristically difficult to treat, recurrent and costly. The dermal microcirculation is aberrant with cellular stasis, capillary leak, edema and prone to chronic wounds. As venous pressures increase in these patients, there is microcirculatory ischemia which predisposes to wound formation.

In the skin, the normal wound healing cellular cascade mechanism acts to restore epithelial components and ends in collagen deposition and scar formation. Imperative to this process is angiogenesis, cellular signaling, and cellular mitosis. These wound healing processes can be promoted by stem cell transplantation.

It is now known that lipoaspirate obtained by standard small volume liposunction techniques contains autologous mesenchymal stem cells. We propose that autologous stem cell transplantation via lipoaspirate injection to these recalcitrant wounds could be a safe and effective treatment modality. Because the cellular derangement of both diabetic wounds and venous stasis wounds is derived from abnormal cell signaling, micro-ischemia and abnormal capillaries, stem cell treatment which can aid in angiogenesis and cellular signaling may be a treatment option which is aimed directly at the root cause of the disease.