Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common, degenerative joint disease that impairs function and causes severe pain and stiffness. Only symptomatic alleviation is provided by current conservative therapies, which do not change the joint biochemistry or the normal course of OA. Rich in growth hormones and mesenchymal stem cells, bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) offers a promising regenerative treatment to encourage tissue repair and reduce inElammation. Clinical evidence for BMAC in OA is still inconclusive. The clinical effectiveness of a single intra-articular BMAC injection for pain management and functional improvement in primary knee OA was assessed in this prospective interventional trial, which ran from January 2021 to June 2022. An autologous BMAC injection of 10 mL was given to 25 patients (aged 45–80) with Kellgren-Lawrence grades I–III OA. The BMAC was made from iliac crest aspirate using standardized centrifugation. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to measure pain, and the Oxford Knee Score (OKS) was used to measure function at baseline, one, three, and six months after the treatment. Improvements were statistically signiEicant, according to the results. At six months, the mean VAS ratings dropped and the average OKS scores increased. Although 8% of patients experienced edema and 20% reported temporary pain (≤2 weeks), the surgery was well tolerated. According to these results, mild to moderate knee OA can be safely and effectively treated with a single BMAC injection in the short to medium term. This suggests that additional large-scale, controlled trials are necessary to conEirm the treatment’s promise.
Keywords: Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate, Knee, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Osteoarthritis, Pain, Regenerative Medicine.