Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate in Nerve and Spinal Cord Injury

Nerve injuries either peripheral or central are extremely frequent in clinical practice. The impairment of sensory and motor functions may have distressing effects on the social and professional activities of these patients, most of whom are young and may acquire life-long disabilities. The extent of disability and patient suffering after Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI), as well as the high cost of care, continues to motivate research into effective interventions. Nerve surgery is aimed at motor and sensory reinnervation, but often a deficit in the functionality remains. As cell therapy and tissue engineering have been receiving a great deal of attention in recent decades, and are widely used in different areas, Therefore, the utilization of bone marrow aspirate concentrate in peripheral nerve repair techniques as well as after spinal cord injury is tried in order to optimize the regeneration process. In this chapter, we will discuss the evidence in the literature regarding the clinical and experimental application of bone marrow aspirate concentrate as a major source of mesenchymal stem cells in treatment of peripheral nerve and spinal cord injuries.

Keywords: Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate (BMAC), Expanded stem cells, Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), Nerve Injury, Spinal cord injury, Spinal cord transection.