stem cell therapy

[DoesDressage]

Does anyone have any exeprience with stem cell therpay. My mare has severe hind suspensory injury. Shes goes in next thursday to have bone marrow taken from her sternum. Would love to hear more about it, recovery time, results etc.

Thanks

 

[PennyJ]

My mare had it done about 2 1/2 years ago after she had damaged both her SDF Tendons in her front legs. I can't really remember that much about it, it seemed straightforward enough. She had the stem cells extracted at the vets under sedation in May (I think that's the tricky bit) then I picked her up and took her off to stud where she had a fun couple of days. Then home and she carried on as she had been, in at night out during the day sharing the field with one other. Injecting the stem cells into the tendons and pregnancy scan were combined on the same visit, so that would be about 19 days later I think? All I can remember is that I had to keep the bandages on her for a certain number of hours afterwards. That was it. We didn't ride her until September, so about 4 months after the treatment. She and her field companion were hurtling around the field racing each other, and at that point I decided if she was sound enough to do that, then she was sound enough to go out on a very quiet hack. We don't ride her very often these days (we are all to heavy), but she's always been sound ever since.

The bit I don't quite understand is they take out the stem cells and then they go on to a lab to be "grown on" and then put back in to the right part of the body to create a good repair...