Stem Cell Knee Injections Can Reduce Pain

A study outlined in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery supports the use of human mesenchymal stem cell for meniscal regeneration and the control of knee pain.

The study followed 55 patients at seven institutions who underwent partial medial meniscectomy and received the study treatment seven days to 10 days after meniscectomy through a superolateral knee injection.

“There was evidence of meniscus regeneration and improvement in knee pain following treatment with allogenic human mesenchymal stem cells,”C.Thomas Vangsness Jr., M.D., and colleagues wrote in the study. “These results support the study of human mesenchymal stem cells for the apparent knee-tissue regeneration and protective effects.”

Investigators divided the patients into Group A, which received 50×10⁶ allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells, Group B, which was given 150×10⁶ allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells, and Group C — the control group — which received a sodium hyaluronate injection. After a year postoperatively, 24 percent of Group A patients and 6 percent of Group B patients met the 15 percent increase in meniscal volume threshold, but none of the patients in Group C achieved a significant change in meniscal volume.

Based onVAS pain scores, Groups A and B reported having less pain than Group C patients.The VAS scores for all patients improved significantly compared to baseline values.

“The results of this study suggest that mesenchymal stem cells have the potential to improve the overall condition of the knee joint,” Vangsness and colleagues wrote.