Prospective, Randomized, and Controlled Study of a Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Injection for Treating Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Our protocol aim to provide a uniform model for system cells injection to treat diabetic ulcers to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of this treatment. We provide a research standard for stem cells for treating diabetic ulcer, which has the advantages of the high consistencies and the repeatability. Diabetic ulcer is just one of the representative of common refractory ulcer.

We hope to apply stem cells to the treatment of other ulcers or other diseases through this protocol. When using this method to treat the body ulcers, it is necessary to ensure the safety of the source of stem cells and to monitor whether patients experience immune rejection. Through visual demonstration, we hope to provide standard and references for other researchers in the treatment of diabetic ulcers or other refractory wounds.

Begin by disinfecting the wound site with povidone iodine solution. Remove any necrotic tissue using surgical scissors. Now use the syringe to aspirate 50 milliliters of saline to clean the wound surface.

Measure the wound area using the sterile foil edge hook method. Apply the sterile film transparent dressing to the wound surface. Outline the shape of the wound surface with a marker to calculate the wound area.

In the stem cell therapy group, inject the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into the wound periphery and base. Cover the wound surface with an appropriately sized sterile dressing and then bandage it. In the conventional wound treatment group, once the site has been cleaned, measured, and marked as described earlier, cover the wound with a silver ion dressing before bandaging it.

The wounds treated with the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells reduced in size from 3.5 square centimeters to 2.6 square centimeters on the eighth day. By the 15th day, the wound size was 1.8 square centimeters. It was further reduced to 1.25 square centimeters on the 22nd day post-treatment.

The wounds treated with a conventional silver ion dressing also decreased in size from 1.25 square centimeters to 0.875 square centimeters on the eighth day. By the 15th day, the wound size was 0.8 square centimeters. A slight reduction to 0.75 square centimeters was seen by the 22nd day.

The critical step of this experiment is to inject stem cells into the wound at a fixed point and a fixed time. Moreover, long-term followup is required for laboratory tests. According to the biological characteristics of stem cells, following this procedure, it can be applied to burn wounds, infection wounds, and et cetera, which plays an important role in the research of wound healing.

After the development of stem cells technology for treating diabetic ulcers, we believe it can play a huge role in most wound treatment through its ability to secrete growth factors and vasoactive factors effectively.