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Review
. 2018 Sep;8(6):629-637.
doi: 10.1177/2192568217747573. Epub 2018 Jan 30.

The Science and Clinical Applications of Placental Tissues in Spine Surgery

K Aaron Shaw  1 , Stephen A Parada  1 , David M Gloystein  1 , John G Devine  2
Affiliations
Review

The Science and Clinical Applications of Placental Tissues in Spine Surgery

K Aaron Shaw et al. Global Spine J. 2018 Sep.

Abstract

Study design: Narrative literature review.

Objectives: Placental tissue, amniotic/chorionic membrane, and umbilical cord have seen a recent expansion in their clinical application in various fields of surgery. It is important for practicing surgeons to know the underlying science, especially as it relates to spine surgery, to understand the rationale and clinical indication, if any, for their usage.

Methods: A literature search was performed using PubMed and MEDLINE databases to identify studies reporting the application of placental tissues as it relates to the practicing spine surgeon. Four areas of interest were identified and a comprehensive review was performed of available literature.

Results: Clinical application of placental tissue holds promise with regard to treatment of intervertebral disc pathology, preventing epidural fibrosis, spinal dysraphism closure, and spinal cord injury; however, there is an overall paucity of high-quality evidence. As such, evidence-based guidelines for its clinical application are currently unavailable.

Conclusions: There is no high-level clinical evidence to support the application of placental tissue for spinal surgery, although it does hold promise for several areas of interest for the practicing spine surgeon. High-quality research is needed to define the clinical effectiveness and indications of placental tissue as it relates to spine surgery.

Keywords: amniotic membrane; chorionic membrane; epidural fibrosis; intervertebral disc; spinal cord injury; spinal dysraphism; umbilical cord.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Illustrative image depicting the placenta membranes and the cellular organization of the amnion, chorion, and umbilical cord.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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