LAUSR

Relapse rates of pressure ulcers (PUs) are very high in spinal cord injured patients. That is the reason why alternative therapies, such as using stem cells derived from bone marrow, have been developed. The objective of our study is to compare this technique of infiltration - infusion of mononuclear cells with conventional surgery. A retrospective study was carried out in patients with spinal cord injuries who had PUs, category III / IV, in the pelvic area, during a 14-year follow-up period. One group was treated with conventional surgery and, in the other group, mononuclear cells were infused. The statistical analysis was done using the R program and level of significance used was <0.05. One hundred and forty-nine patients were registered, 42.3% in the conventional surgery group and 57.7% in the mononuclear cell group. There were no significant differences in terms of ulcer healing in the first six months, but 6 months and one year post-treatment, it were found significant differences. At 6 months, no patient in the conventional surgery group presented dehiscence of the wound and, one year after surgery, only 3.17% recurred in the conventional group In addition, it was shown that there was a statistically significant relationship between days of hospitalization and type of bacterial contamination and the intervention group. Use of bone marrow mononuclear cell infusion-infiltration is an alternative treatment for PUs during the first 6 months, instead of conventional surgery. However, in the medium-long term, conventional surgery is more effective.