Use of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of osteoarthritis: A retrospective long-term follow-up study

Abstract

BackgroundAvailable studies suggest that bone marrow concentrate, highly enriched in mesenchymal stem cells, is a potentially encouraging treatment for knee osteoarthritis. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the clinical outcome in patients affected by this condition after treatment with autologous bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC). Methods55 patients who had undergone a single intra-articular injection of BMAC were administered two questionnaires to clinically evaluate their condition based on patient-reported outcome measures before treatment and at follow-up. ResultsAnalysis of the data collected indicates that patients experienced improvements in Tegner, VAS and WOMAC scores and that all outcomes at the follow-up improved in a statistically significant manner compared to outcomes at baseline. ConclusionsThe changes observed in the different scores examined suggest that a single BMAC injection seems to be a beneficial and safe treatment for knee osteoarthritis.