They've created a gel for muscle recovery
Injecting a new gel into rats helped prevent or reverse pelvic floor damage caused by childbirth.The trauma associated with vaginal delivery often results in damage to the pelvic floor. Treating such damage is difficult. A new injectable gel can repair women's pelvic floor if they have damaged it during childbirth, an early study in rats and human tissue has shown.
Right now, there are few treatment options for pelvic floor disorders: exercise and surgical manipulation. No treatments directly repair the pelvic floor muscles or remove scarring. A new gel, however, is capable of doing just that.
In the new study, scientists took tissue samples from the pelvic floor muscles of women who gave birth vaginally and developed symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic floor disorders.
The rodents' muscles improved after treatment with the gel and began to repair and heal. Scientists observed positive changes in rats that had fresh injuries as well as those that were injured four weeks later.
The pelvic floor is a hammock of muscle and connective tissue that supports the organs of the pelvis and abdomen, including the intestines, bladder and uterus.
The scientists used pig muscle tissue to create it. They then removed the cells, leaving only the extracellular matrix, or the physical structure that supports the cells. It was screened for contaminants and then pulverized into a powder. The scientists then added sterile salt water and the substance turned into a gel that could be injected into muscles.
Once inside the body, the gel hardens and forms a structure similar to what is normally found in muscles. The body then "works" on a solution of this matrix. As it degrades, it releases substances that attract immune cells. These are what help repair the tissue.
Pelvic floor disorders affect up to 25% of the U.S. female population and are often caused by muscle damage that occurs during vaginal delivery. Although these injuries are common, scientists don't yet know how childbirth causes pelvic floor muscle failure.