Colorectal tissue engineering: prerequisites, current status and perspectives.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Gastrointestinal tissue engineering has emerged over the past 20 years and was often focused on esophagus, stomach or small intestine, whereas bioengineering researches of colorectal tissue are scarce. However, some promising results have been obtained in animal models. Refinements should be performed in scaffold and cell source selection to allow smooth muscle layer regeneration. Indeed, synthetic and natural polymers such as small intestinal submucosa and collagen sponge seeded with organoid units or smooth muscle cells did not allow smooth muscle regeneration. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue seeded on composite scaffold could represent an interesting way to achieve this goal. This article reviews potential indications, current status and perspectives of tissue engineering in the area of colorectal surgery.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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