Treat Arthritis and Injured Ligaments With Stem Cells

By Mayo Friedlis, MD

As we age, the body breaks down. It's a fact of life. Two of the more common ailments of aging are arthritis and ligament injuries. Now there are new treatments for these conditions using stem cells and platelets from your own body to repair the damage.

Known as Regenexx Procedures, these non-surgical treatments use adult stem cells and blood platelets to address common injuries and degenerative joint conditions, such as osteoarthritis and rotator cuff injuries.

Stem cells live in all of us and they act as the repairmen of the body. However, as we age or get injuries, we sometimes can't get enough of these critical repair cells to the injured area.

The Regenexx Procedures help solve this problem by amplifying the body's natural repair process; utilizing a patient's own cells to help heal damaged tissues, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, or bone. Taking mesenchymal stem cells from the body, concentrating those cells in a lab, and then precisely re-injecting them into the damaged area in need of repair accomplish this.

Mesenchymal stem cells are acquired by taking a small bone marrow sample from the back of the pelvic bone through a needle. The sampling procedure is called a bone marrow aspirate, which is different than a bone marrow biopsy, which can be painful.

The aspirate procedure is usually described by patients as being comfortable.

Trained staff members process the samples to isolate the mesenchymal stem cells from the bone marrow. Additionally, platelets and growth factors are isolated. The stem cells, platelets and growth factors are then injected back into the injured area on the same day, using fluoroscopic (x-ray) guidance or musculoskeletal ultrasound. The precise delivery system ensures a much greater number of stem cells reach the injured area than your body would deliver on its own.

What Makes Regenexx Procedures Different Than Other Procedures Being Offered?

First, the stem cells are harvested and concentrated by hand using an in-house lab. This ensures greater numbers and greater survivability of the cells when they are reintroduced into the body. Second, the procedures incorporate a proprietary “super platelet” mix containing platelets, growth factors, and other agents to effectively “turn on” the stem cells, getting them to multiply in greater numbers and to change into the cells needed to repair your tissues, i.e., cartilage, ligament or tendon.

Based on collected data, more than nine in 10 patients by six months had some relief of their knee arthritis pain. Patients experience very little down time and they typically avoid the long, painful rehabilitation periods that often follow surgery to restore joint strength and mobility.