Blog: Dr. Sheinkop , let’s pick up where we ended at the last interview. You were going to tell us about the hip labrum?
Sheinkop: Recently, there has been an increased frequency of diagnosis pertaining to an acetabular labral tear when a patient presents to a physician with groin pain. The cause may be attributed to trauma or it may be spontaneous in nature. While only an orthopedic surgeon really understands how to properly examine the hip joint, I am observing the next step in every and all patients with “hip” or “groin” pain is an MRI prescription. While a torn acetabular labrum is best diagnosed on the MRI after arthrogram, even that exercise may not result in a proper diagnosis. There are anatomic variants that are frequently mistakenly diagnosed as a tear and there are positive findings for a labral tear that when surgically addressed do not result in clinical improvement. In general, unless there are mechanical signs such as snapping, clunking or giving way, pain alone is not justification for arthroscopic hip surgery. In the presence of arthritis, arthroscopy is almost never indicated in the new world of evidence based medicine.
Blog: If I am not mistaken, the way you responded to the labral question is how you have responded in the past to a “positive” MRI of the knee and a diagnosis of a torn meniscus (cartilage).
Sheinkop: You are correct. The scientific evidence clearly identifies the fact that a pain generator must be identified before a surgical procedure. Even if the MRI is compatible with a torn labrum or meniscus, in the presence of arthritis, arthroscopic surgery will make things worse over six months. Surgery in said circumstances should be reserved for mechanical symptoms and not pain.
Blog: Then what is a patient with pain in the groin or knee to do?
Sheinkop: First and foremost, my job is to identify the cause of the pain and treat the patient, not the image. In the absence of clunking, snapping and giving way (joint instability), Interventional Orthopedics based on Platelet Rich Plasma and Bone Marrow Aspirate derived stem cells and growth factors provide the surgical alternative-remember the needle and not the knife.
Blog: I learned this week that you have been invited to St. Petersburg, Russia, this September to present non surgical alternatives for arthritis, at an international orthopedic meeting focused on joint replacement.
Sheinkop: Your information is correct. The role for Interventional and Cellular orthopedics, basically regenerative medicine, is in grades two and three osteoarthritis; while a patient is quite functional and not yet sufficiently impaired to justify the risks inherent in a joint replacement. On the other hand, there is a large patient population with advanced osteoarthritis of a major joint wherein the joint replacement option is to great a medical challenge and may risk survival. The evidence I have gathered over almost five years is not only of interest in the United States but has global potential impact.
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Tags: arthritis, Bone Marrow Concentrate, Clinical Trial. Mitchell B. Sheinkop, hip surgery, joint replacement, knee surgery, Orthopedic Surgeon, Pain Management, Platelet Rich Plasma, stem cell treatment, torn labrum, torn meniscus