Special Announcement - Now Screening for FDA Approved Stem Cell Study
Dr. Mitchell Sheinkop has completed training and is credentialed for an FDA-approved stem cell clinical trial for knee arthritis. Our clinic is now screening patients for this trial. Contact us at 312-475-1893 for details. Click here to learn more.

In my last blog, I used anecdote and two patient experiences to justify my treatment recommendations.  This blog will feature a scientific and statistically significant outcomes study that I will be presenting next week at the Orthobiologic Institute Symposium (TOBI) taking place virtually in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since I am the first author of the study, I will claim an author’s license to paraphrase and attempt to simplify.

Cellular Orthopedic Recommendations

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) increasingly is considered to be a whole-joint disease, of which degeneration of the articular cartilage is a critical component of OA pathology, along with alterations to the synovial membrane and changes to the subchondral bone supporting the cartilage. Compounding the treatment of OA is the slow and usually limited recovery of damaged articular cartilage. Conventional therapies, including viscosupplementation, steroids, physical therapy, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, have shown some benefit in reducing OA-associated knee pain, and improving quality of life/functionality, at least for some period of time, but lack evidence of regenerative or long-lasting benefits. Orthobiologics such as Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) and Bone Marrow Concentrate (BMC) also have been used in treating OA, with variable degrees of success. Although most publications concerning treatment of knee OA use an intraarticular (into the joint) route of injection, there are a few recent publications that have described an intraosseous (into the bone adjacent to the joint) route for injecting an orthobiologic.

The current study was structured to assess the safety and potential therapeutic benefit of treating patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis with a split injection of BMC, such that approximately 80% of the injectate was delivered intraosseous to the tibial plateau, and 20% was delivered intraarticular. Each BMC preparation was analyzed for Total Nucleated Cells (TNC), and culture-based Stem Cells.  Clinical outcomes were recorded for the Knee Society Score; Lower Extremity Functional -activity-Scale (LEFS); and Visual Analog Scale-pain- (VAS). We also assessed for correlations with patient factors, including cellularity (Total Nucleated Cells) and Stem Cells) and pre-treatment clinical outcome values.

The results reported in this study demonstrate the safety of intraosseous delivery of BMC to treat mild-moderate knee OA. Equally important, study participants reported a mean change in VAS (pain scale) at the 1-year milestone of -2.6, which is slightly larger than the commonly reported VAS of -2.5, suggesting that the treatment protocol resulted in a meaningful decrease in pain out to 1-year post-treatment. The mean change at 1-year of the LEFS (activity) outcome was +15.8 points, which is 2.3x larger than that commonly for LEFS of 9 points, while marked improvements in KSS-Knee and KSS-Function also were observed.

I understand that which I have attempted to explain may be confusing but the results of this trial should be understood. For clarification, call and schedule a consultation (312) 475-1893. You may visit my website and watch a webinar at www.sheinkopmd.com

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