Lipogems® Treatment Shows Promise for Vaginal Dryness After Menopause

First-ever stem cell treatment targets menopausal vaginal symptoms

Vaginal atrophy affects up to 40% of women after menopause. This condition causes uncomfortable symptoms like dryness, itching, and painful intercourse. Current treatments require ongoing use of lubricants or hormone creams. These work only while you keep using them. Researchers at Brown University explored a new approach. They used the body's own fat tissue to help regenerate vaginal tissues naturally.

Patient receives fat tissue injection in minimally invasive procedure

A 50-year-old woman sought help for vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, and difficulty reaching orgasm. She had tried pelvic floor therapy and local treatments without success. Doctors harvested a small amount of fat tissue from her abdominal area. They processed it using the Lipogems® system in about 15 to 20 minutes. This created 12 cc of micro-fragmented fat containing natural healing cells. The processed tissue was then injected into the vaginal walls and opening.

Lipogems® preserves natural healing cells in fat tissue

The Lipogems® system uses gentle mechanical processing. This approach keeps important healing cells intact:

• Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs): Regenerative cells that can become various tissue types

• Pericytes: Helper cells that support blood vessel healing

• Stromal vascular niche: The natural environment that keeps these cells healthy and active

Unlike older methods requiring weeks of cell culturing in a lab, this system provides ready-to-use tissue immediately. The closed system also reduces infection risk.

Sexual function improves significantly over ten months

The patient completed a validated questionnaire about sexual function before and after treatment. Her responses showed meaningful improvement:

• Ability to reach orgasm: Improved from "extremely difficult" to "difficult"

• Satisfaction with orgasm: Also improved from lowest to moderate rating

• Timeline: Benefits appeared by four weeks and continued through ten months

The researchers tracked symptoms at four weeks, eight weeks, and ten months after the single treatment.

No laboratory cell processing needed with this approach

Traditional stem cell treatments require extensive harvesting and culturing of cells. This takes time and introduces risks like contamination or cell mutations. The Lipogems® system offers key advantages:

• Uses your own tissue (called "autologous")

• Minimal processing with no enzymes or chemicals added

• Same-day procedure from harvest to injection

• Preserves cells in their natural protective environment

The fat tissue is collected using techniques similar to standard liposuction. A small blunted cannula minimizes trauma to the healing cells during collection.

Promising early results warrant further research

This case represents the first known use of fat-derived stem cell therapy for vaginal atrophy. The early results are encouraging for women seeking alternatives to ongoing hormone therapy. This may be especially relevant for women who cannot use estrogen. This includes many breast cancer survivors.

The researchers note that larger studies are needed. Future research should determine how well this treatment works across more patients. Scientists also need to understand how long the benefits last. However, this pioneering case suggests that regenerative medicine may offer a new option for menopausal vaginal symptoms.

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What this means for you: If you experience vaginal dryness or painful intercourse after menopause, this research suggests Lipogems® treatment may help. The procedure uses your own fat tissue in a single, minimally invasive session. While this was a single-patient study, the sustained improvement over ten months is promising. Ask your doctor whether you might be a candidate for this approach.

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Source: Fantasia et al., Journal of Urology and Research, 2016.