Home › Blog › Regenexx-AD Fat Graft Survival

Regenexx-AD is a procedure that uses fat and bone marrow stem cells for the treatment of an arthritic knee. Fat stem cells have been all the rage lately in cosmetics. One issue is that stem cells from fat dramatically under perform bone marrow or synovial stem cells for orthopedic purposes. As a result, the Regenexx-AD procedure allows us to use fat for where it performs the best: a structural graft.  The fact that it has stem cells embedded in it is a plus. For stem cell source, the Regenexx-AD procedure uses the same bone marrow aspirate source used in Regenexx-SD. Regenexx-AD involves taking a small fat sample from the side of the thigh and injecting that fat between a collateral ligament and the meniscus, to help prevent the meniscus from spitting out the side of the knee joint. This spitting knee meniscus syndrome is common after meniscus surgeries and has been discussed in earlier posts. However, does that fat graft survive? Above is an ultrasound picture of a fat graft one month out from injection, as the patient returned for his second procedure with Regenexx-SD (first procedure was Regenexx-AD to buttress this meniscus and prevent it from being spit out of the joint). It shows as marked, the fat graft still in place and the meniscus in better position inside the joint. The patient also reports significant improvement, all with a series of injections with minimal downtime, without the need for another knee surgery.

Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile