Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis with Bone Marrow–Derived Mononuclear Cell Injection: 12-Month Follow-up

A single injection of bone marrow concentrate (BMC) into a knee with osteoarthritis had improvement in pain, function, and post-injection MRI scoring after 12 months. No adverse events occurred. 34 knees with Kellgren Lawrence grade 2, and 3 osteoarthritis were treated with BMC.

The Takeaway: Commonly, BMC is a concentration of cells that contain a nucleus and these include a variety of cells including B cells, T cells, NK cells, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils AND mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Although MSCs and stem cells are quite powerful, and very popular these days, we do want to harvest all of the aforementioned nucleated cells as they all play a vital role in tissue healing. To acquire BMC, we first do a procedure to draw your own bone marrow, and then it is processed in our own lab. It is essential to have proper draw technique to get as many cells as possible from your bone marrow aspiration, and when done properly, the patient experiences minimal discomfort. BMA done incorrectly results in a painful procedure that begets poor cell counts and poor outcomes. If you are curious to learn more, watch Dr. Silva perform a bone marrow aspiration here.

Reference:
Goncars V, Et Al. Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis with Bone Marrow–Derived Mononuclear Cell Injection: 12-Month Follow-up. Cartilage. 2019 Jan;10(1):26-35.

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