AAOS Meeting: Stem Cells help Knee Meniscus Repair

stem cell knee surgery

Stem cell knee surgery addition helps repair meniscus…  A paper was presented at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons meeting last week demonstrating that patients receiving a knee stem cell shot after meniscus surgery generally did better than those receiving a placebo. The stem cell patients had less pain two years after their surgery and a few patients in the MSC group also showed signs of meniscal regeneration. The MSCs were injected in hyaluronic acid (what we call WD-40 for the knee). The downside of the study was that there were only 55 patients in the trial and the patients all had less severe mild and moderate arthritis. The safety of injecting these cells was good and about 1 in 5 patients receiving the stem cells had some evidence of a bigger meniscus on follow-up MRI, similar to the data we had already reported. The upshot? This study shows what we’ve known for years, stem cells can help the knee meniscus. While we have published bigger stem cell studies with more patients followed for longer periods, the advantage of this smaller study is that it’s placebo controlled.

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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

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NOTE: This blog post provides general information to help the reader better understand regenerative medicine, musculoskeletal health, and related subjects. All content provided in this blog, website, or any linked materials, including text, graphics, images, patient profiles, outcomes, and information, are not intended and should not be considered or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please always consult with a professional and certified healthcare provider to discuss if a treatment is right for you.

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