Let’s start with a definition. Orthobiologics is that subdivision of Regenerative Medicine wherein cells from your circulating blood, adipose tissue or bone marrow (autologous) are recovered, processed and reintroduced to that part of your musculoskeletal system generating symptoms and limitations. Unless the biologic is used as an adjunct at a surgical procedure, a needle is the standard of practice rather than a knife.
The FDA and FTC have established principles governing Regenerative Medicine; and finally, those rules and regulations are being enforced to eliminate the charlatans, the camp followers and uninformed physicians. It is a slow enforcement process that really won’t have a significant impact until September of 2020; until then patient beware. Birth tissues such as cord blood, amniotic fluid and placental tissues have no viable stem cells once processed, preserved and reconstituted for injection. That’s a scientific fact readily repeated in the medical literature; which leaves us with three sources of living cells: blood, bone marrow, and fat (adipose tissue) for the care and treatment of an arthritic or inflamed joint.
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), initially was the result of recovering several vials of your blood and placing them in a centrifuge. The resultant buffy coat, found in between the plasma on the top and the combined red and white cells on the bottom, was now recovered and injected into the problematic joint. Eventually, it was realized that the plasma was rich in proteins termed growth factors and the growth factors had unlimited benefit in eliminating the inflammation, that is the pain generator of arthritis. Now we use a combination of platelets and filtered plasma rich in growth factors for an arthritic joint
Adipose tissue is abundant in the body’s midsection; and that fat is a rich source of stem cells. The problem has been that the process required to liberate those stem cells from the fat cells (adipocytes) was not FDA compliant; that is not until Personalized Stem Cells received FDA approval this past summer to begin a trial for an arthritic knee. You may read more about the PSC Trial in my past blogs archived on my web site or by accessing PersonalizedStemcells.com
As you will learn from investigating the FDA approved PSC Clinical Trial, many patients won’t meet the inclusion criteria for participation in the trial. There are alternatives and that’s the place for Bone Marrow Concentrate. I have been using BMC for over eight years with reproduceable and good to excellent results in the majority of patients. My practice is evidence based and I co-authored the evidence to support the use of bone marrow concentrate in a medical journal in December of 2018. That evidence is now the basis for the use of BMC in arthritis all over the United Sates.
To learn more about any of the subject matter found in this blog, call (312) 475-1893 to schedule an appointment unless you are calling about the FDA approved PSC Trail. Then call (312) 475-1893
You may visit my web site at sheinkopmd.com