Press Releases

VetStem Cell Therapy Helped Italian Greyhound Puppy Bounce Back after Broken Leg

Raven, an Italian Greyhound puppy, was successfully treated with VetStem Cell Therapy in conjunction with surgery to fix a broken leg.

2023-03-28 --

Raven, an Italian Greyhound, was just five months old when she caught her right front leg in a chain link fence, causing her to break both her radius and ulna. The break required extensive reparative surgery, which included a steel plate and eight screws to anatomically reduce the bones and to prevent shortening and angular and/or rotational deformity. Fortunately, Raven was in the very skilled hands of veterinary surgeon and VetStem proponent, Dr. Jeff Christiansen of Superior Veterinary Surgical Solutions.

Dr. Christiansen is a board-certified veterinary surgeon and has been utilizing VetStem Cell Therapy since 2012. As of October, he had provided VetStem cell processing services for over 225 patients. Today, that number has grown to over 250 patients. Though surgery was required to repair Raven’s broken leg, Dr. Christiansen recommended VetStem Cell Therapy in conjunction with surgery to help improve and expedite the healing process.

Dr. Christiansen collected fat from Raven’s abdomen while she was anesthetized for her leg repair surgery. The fat was aseptically packaged and shipped to the VetStem processing laboratory in Poway, California. Lab technicians processed the fat to extract and concentrate the stem and regenerative cells contained therein. Two injectable doses of Raven’s stem cells were prepared and shipped to Dr. Christiansen for treatment and the remaining cells were put into cryostorage for potential future use. Raven received one injection into the fracture repair site and one intravenous injection.

Since recovery, Raven’s owners stated that you would never know she had a broken leg and that she has “full on Italian Greyhound zoomies with no limp or complaint of pain.” Her owner also stated, “Raven just turned 2 years old and to date has no evidence of pain or difficulty moving around. Between the stem cells and Dr. Christiansen she is as good as new. The VetStem Therapy was highly recommended by the surgeon and for my peace of mind, well worth the money. We now have VetStem keep the stem cells in the event we would ever need them again.”

Stem cells are regenerative cells that can differentiate into many tissue types including bone, reduce pain and inflammation, help to restore range of motion, and stimulate regeneration of tendon, ligament, and joint tissues (https://vetstem.com/science.php). According to surveys answered by owners and veterinarians, greater than 80% of dogs showed an improved quality of life after receiving VetStem Cell Therapy for orthopedic conditions (https://vetstem.com/pdfs/6110-0007-004%20Quality%20of%20Life%20Handout.pdf).