Musculoskeletal Care of the Mature Patient
The potential benefit of regenerative medicine is avoidance of orthopedic surgery. That’s the goal and I am the orthopedic surgeon leading the charge. I have spent several years now investigating, meeting, traveling, learning and preparing for that reality with the start-up anticipated in mid-April. While there is anecdote about subjective improvement following autologous, mesenchymal, Bone Marrow Concentrate derived stem cells for management of arthritis, there are no peer reviewed published long-term clinical outcomes to the best of my knowledge. There have been testimonials by orthopedic surgeons that following the adjunctive use of stem cells in conjunction with arthroscopic micro fracture of an arthritis knee, when the patient subsequently underwent knee replacement, hyaline cartilage was observed growing rather than fibro cartilage. This is not good enough for me, as I want a procedure that will postpone the need for a joint replacement or possibly eliminate that need. Is it a matter of when to intervene with regenerative medicine? When there is major deformity of an arthritic joint, significant alteration in function and a “bone on bone” X-ray, it probably is too late. Will regenerative medical intervention delay the joint replacement by a three to five year control of pain by the anti-inflammatory nature of bone marrow concentrate or will the joint cartilage actually re-grow? These are unanswered questions and what I seek to learn as I embark on my clinical project
Recently, the orthopedic surgical spine community became aware of a fourfold risk of cancer in patients who underwent spinal fusion using Bone Morphogenic Protein to increase the likelihood of successful fusion. As a result, attention quickly was redirected to stem cells as an adjunct in spinal surgery to replace human BMP. As of this writing, I have found no evidence of carcinogenesis in conjunction with autologous, mesenchymal Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrated stem cells used in the skeleton and certainly not when used in a joint. The same might not be said when embryonic stem cells have been injected into the blood of patients to treat probably what shouldn’t be addressed with stem cells in the first place. Desperate people are not infrequently victims of charlatans as has been repeatedly pointed out on 60 Minutes. Contrast the risks of stem cell misdeeds with the benefits of scientific application. Today, the AMA News headline covered the potential for stem cells to eliminate the need for long-term anti-rejection pharmaceuticals in organ transplant recipients.
How to avoid orthopedic surgery by an orthopedic surgeon? Not just a mission statement by an ethos. Call to see if you are a candidate.
Mitchell B. Sheinkop, M.D.
312-475-1893
1565 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610
Tags: arthritis, Benefits and Risk, Bone Marrow Concentrate, Clinical Trial. Mitchell B. Sheinkop, medicine, Osteoarthritis, Pilot Study, Platelet Rich Plasma, PRP, Regenerative Pain Center, stem cells, Ultrasound Guided Injection