Regenerative Surgery: Is This an Independent Field of Health Sciences or Only a Semantic Exercise?

• Published in: Current transplantation reports Vol. 10; no. 4; pp. 282 - 289
• Main Authors: Monetti, Alexandra R., Savino, John R., Miller, Jake B., Bowlby, Joshua J., Byers, Lori N., Rengaraj, Arunkumar, Jeong, Wonwoo, Peveri, Emma, Ruley, Ainsley J., Asthana, Amish, Orlando, Giuseppe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-12-2023
• Subjects: Immunology; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Surgery; Topical Collection on Cellular Transplants; Transplant Surgery; Transplantation; Vascularized composite tissue; Regenerative surgery; Regenerative medicine; Scaffolds; Cells
• ISSN: 2196-3029; 2196-3029
• DOI: 10.1007/s40472-023-00409-1

Purpose of Review
This manuscript aims at contextualizing the term
regenerative surgery
, whose recent introduction in the medical jargon has generated some confusion on both its significance and interplay with its synonymous
regenerative medicine
.
Recent Findings
The manuscript will illustrate the worldwide experience relative to the development of
regenerative surgery
–related technologies, as they may be applied and be of interest to transplant medicine. Only few centers have invested in these technologies, the most relevant of which is cell on scaffold seeding technologies whereby cells, ideally isolated from the patient, are seeded and allowed to mature into and onto supporting scaffolds. These scaffolds are obtained through the decellularization of mammalian organs compatible with the human size and morphology.
Summary
Regenerative surgery is a field of health sciences of enormous interest to the transplant field and reconstructive plastic surgery. It is intimately interconnected with its sister field regenerative medicine and bears potential to address unmet needs of modern transplant medicine.