Approach of Stem Cells in Treating Sciatic Nerve Injury
                     Approach of Stem Cells 
in Treating Sciatic 
Nerve Injury
Best Umbilical Cord Blood Banking in India
The Sciatic Nerve
 The sciatic nerve is a large 
nerve that originates from 
the lower back and passes 
through both the legs to 
the feet, is important to 
provide the motor and 
sensory functions to the 
legs. 
 Sciatic nerve injury also 
known as Sciatica is 
caused due to any kind of 
pressure such as 
stretching, jerk or cutting 
of the nerve.
Symptoms and Complications
 Injury in the sciatic nerve 
leads to loss of muscle power 
and pain that spreads to the 
back of the leg from the lower 
back. It generally occurs only 
on one side of the body.
 The pain may range from mild 
to severe ache, sometimes it 
might feel like a sharp pain 
which can develop 
progressively or suddenly.
Sciatica is known to cause some 
complications such as:
 leg injury
 inability to move the 
leg
 loss of sensation in 
the leg
 permanent damage of 
nerve.
Risk Factors that Influence 
Sciatica
 Age – Increase in the age of 
a person may lead to a 
herniated disk or bone spurs.
 Occupation – Carrying 
heavy loads, driving for a 
prolonged time or even a 
sedentary lifestyle may lead 
to deformation in the spinal 
cord.
 Obesity – Excess weight 
increases stress on the spine, 
thus leading to spinal cord 
injury.
 Diabetes – Nerve damage 
may occur due to the high 
sugar level in the blood.
Common Treatment Options:
1. Medicines:
 Anti-inflammatories – 
Non-steroidal drugs can 
be used to reduce the 
inflammation of the nerve
 Muscle relaxants – To 
get relief from muscle 
cramp or muscle spasm.
 Antidepressants – In 
case of chronic lower back 
pain
2. Home Remedies:
 Hot and cold compress – 
Combination of hot and cold 
packs can help to relieve 
pain. The cold pack reduces 
inflammation associated with 
the pain and the heat will 
increase the flow of blood to 
the area.
 Acupuncture – Needles are 
inserted into the specific 
sites at lower back to create 
a response from the nervous 
system. The response 
triggers our brain to release 
natural painkillers, increase 
blood flow and relax the 
surrounding muscles.
 Massage – A deep tissue 
massage will help to relax 
the tensed muscles and 
reduces the pressure on the 
sciatic nerve.
3. Physiotherapy:
 Strengthening exercises – 
To provide strength in the 
spinal cord for supporting 
the lower muscles.
 Stretching exercises – 
Helps to stretch the muscles 
of the lower back so that the 
muscles become flexible.
     In addition, physiotherapist 
also advices to improve body 
posture while sitting or 
sleeping.
Treatment by Stem Cell 
Therapy
 All of the above options will only 
provide instant relief from sciatic 
pain but it cannot cure the 
disease. Umbilical cord blood 
stem cells are being researched 
to find its benefits in treating 
sciatic nerve injury.
 In a pre-clinical study conducted 
by Yilmaz, A. et al. (2018) 
showed that cord blood-derived 
CD34+ Stem Cells can protect 
and prevent degeneration of 
axon and myelin sheath.
Treatment by Stem Cell 
Therapy
     For this pre-clinical study, 
they used 21 female rats to 
study the right hind limbs. The 
rats were divided into 3 groups 
and a full layer cut is done on 
the right sciatic nerve.
 On the first group, only the cut 
was made.
 On the second group, the cut 
was covered with synthetic 
vascular graft.
 On the third group, the area of 
the cut was covered with stem 
cell applied vascular graft.
Treatment by Stem Cell 
Therapy
 Post 8 week of operation, 
they found that there were 
no major differences 
between the first and 
second group. 
 However, in the third group, 
they found that the 
degeneration of axon and 
myelin sheet was prevented 
due to the use of CD34+ 
cells. This indicates that with 
further research, umbilical 
cord blood stem cells can 
help to treat nerve injury.
References:
 https://www.cordlifeindia.com/blog/a
pproach-stem-cells-treating-sciatic-n
erve-injury/
 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/219
95439/