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Review
. 2024 Sep 30;11(10):992.
doi: 10.3390/bioengineering11100992.

Therapeutic Efficacy of Adipose Tissue-Derived Components in Neuropathic Pain: A Systematic Review

Anouk A E Claessens  1 , Linda Vriend  2   3 , Zachri N Ovadja  1   2 , Martin C Harmsen  3 , Joris A van Dongen  2 , J Henk Coert  2
Affiliations
Review

Therapeutic Efficacy of Adipose Tissue-Derived Components in Neuropathic Pain: A Systematic Review

Anouk A E Claessens et al. Bioengineering (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Neuropathic pain results from a defect in the somatosensory nervous system caused by a diversity of etiologies. The effect of current treat-ment with analgesics and surgery is limited. Studies report the therapeutic use of adipose tissue-derived components to treat neuropathic pain as a new treatment modality.

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the therapeutic clinical efficacy of adipose tissue-derived components on neuro-pathic pain.

Methods: PubMed, Medline, Cochrane and Embase databases were searched until August 2023. Clinical studies assessing neuropathic pain after autologous fat grafting or the therapeutic use of adipose tissue-derived com-ponents were included. The outcomes of interest were neuropathic pain and quality of life.

Results: In total, 433 studies were identified, of which 109 dupli-cates were removed, 324 abstracts were screened and 314 articles were excluded. In total, ten studies were included for comparison. Fat grafting and cellular stromal vascular fraction were used as treatments. Fat grafting indications were post-mastectomy pain syndrome, neuromas, post-herpetic neuropathy, neuro-pathic scar pain and trigeminal neuropathic pain. In seven studies, neuropathic pain levels decreased, and overall, quality of life did not improve.

Conclusions: The therapeutic efficacy of adipose tissue-derived components in the treatment of neuropathic pain remains unclear due to the few performed clinical trials with small sample sizes for various indications. Larger and properly designed (randomized) controlled trials are required.

Keywords: adipose stromal cells; autologous fat grafting; neuropathic pain; stromal vascular fraction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of study selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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