Home › Blog › The Centeno-Schultz Clinic Announces an Interventional Orthopedics Fellowship

Since we began using stem cells as part of our medical practice in 2005 by treating joints and low back disc problems, we’ve continued to advance the art of regenerative medicine. We’ve made many advances in how cells are harvested, processed, and re-implanted. We’ve developed new procedural techniques and devices. As examples, instead just buying a simple kit and a bedside centrifuge and calling ourselves a stem cell clinic, we took the harder and more expensive road of opening a state of the art stem cell biology facility. This allowed us to custom fit cell based therapies to our patients rather than trying to fit our patients to what a simple machine could produce. As another example, rather than blindly injecting stem cells into joints and hoping that they end up in the right place, we’ve developed new techniques to get cells to those spots. For instance, we know of no other clinic in the world that can document that they are placing stem cells into the ACL ligament through a needle. This technique simply didn’t exist before we realized that many of these patients could avoid surgery by accurately placing stem cells in the ligament. Other examples include our device program, where we have developed a new catheter using interventional cardiology technology to place stem cells inside the low back disc. Or a recent invention that allows us to keep cells in suspension so they can be placed slowly into an area in need of repair. So what are we? We believe we have created a new medical specialty and we know we’re not the only ones out there. We see talented doctors learning new ways to place PRP and other cells using very exact placement with MSK ultrasound imaging. We see others who are innovating with new ways to process cells or adding things to cells to make them work better.

All this has Happened before and Will Happen Again

The same thing happened in the 1980’s in cardiology. At the time, most major heart problems were treated with open heart surgery. However a quiet revolution took place that changed the status quo. Cardiologists began experimenting with opening blocked arteries with catheters that had balloons on their tips. With every passing year from the 1980’s through the 1990’s fewer and fewer patients needed open heart surgery and a new medical specialty was born – Interventional Cardiology. As time went by the aramentarium of specialized devices that could be placed via catheters grew larger and larger. So who are we and what’s our specialty? Today we’re coining the term “Interventional Orthopedics“. Unlike other doctors in pain management, we treat many patients with joint, ligament, and tendon problems. However, unlike surgeons, we do our work in ever increasing complexity through a needle, which allows our patients quicker recovery and less trauma.

New Interventional Orthopedics Fellowship

We will be taking applications for the world’s first fellowship in “Interventional Orthopedics and Regenerative Medicine” this winter. We also encourage our like minded and similarly skilled colleagues to do the same. A real revolution is brewing here that will change the way orthopedic care is delivered. We’re just happy to be in the thick of it all. If you’re a physican wishing to apply for this fellowship, click here.

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