I have been asked many times about my thoughts on concentrating bone marrow versus just using a straight bone marrow aspiration. Currently, there is at least one needle device on the market, Marrow Cellutions, which markets their device as a bone marrow aspiration device that eliminates the need for centrifuging bone marrow to create bone marrow concentrate.
Sadly,not true. At least not the way it is presented to people at seminars as a sales tactic to separate people from their hard earned money. A simple 5 degree xray tilt will make an xray change to look as if new cartilage has grown….that is what these clinics and people are showing potential patients who are interested in regenerative medicine procedures….and these clinics usually compound the deceit by telling patients they can get living stem cells from amniotic fluid or umbilical cord blood.
Our patient wanted to share her story…..she is only 4 months after her in office bone marrow derived stem cell procedure that took 1 hour. She is 2 months after a PRP injection we did into the same knee to give her a better result. Now? 90%+ better and doing things without pain that she had not been able to do for years. In her words.
After the fireworks, come learn how you have other natural options besides medications, steroids,and surgery to treat your arthritis or back pain or sports injuries.
Here is a case study using PRP to help a NCAA college football player with a quadriceps muscle disruption. The procedure is done in the office in about 30min. Hopefully it gets him back in the game faster!
Block an artery to decrease knee arthritis pain?? I am just not convinced that a patient with knee arthritis should be advised to have their geniculate artery clotted (embolized) in an interventional radiology suite…with an expected 6 months of partial pain relief. This write up discusses a very small pilot study with no statistical significance….but my question is whether we should even be pursuing this idea when we have an alternative that is autologous, safe, and can be done at a lower cost in the doctor’s office, and lasts 9-12 months…….PRP!
Ok, just kidding, FDA doesn’t endorse any stem cell sources….BUT the FDA doesn’t regulate bone marrow as a stem cell source when used in orthopedics and they DO regulate adipose(fat), amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood, placental tissues, and other stem cell sources used in orthopedics as biologic drugs. So, stick with the one source that is given the “top-line” exemption for use by the FDA. Here is a 15 minute video on why the FDA doesn’t regulate bone marrow in orthopedics.
Yesterday I presented this talk to the orthopedic surgeons at the 37th annual Cherry Blossom Seminar. In 10 minutes I gave a lot of references and hit the more important articles that have been published.
First off, results vary But what a great response our patient had in this testimonial! She had multiple steroid shots and medications over the past 10 years for intractable hip region pain. As a last resort before surgery, her hip surgeon sent her our way. We diagnosed gluteus medius and minimus tendinopathy with ultrasound on the same day in the office and on the same day did a LP-PRP injection after drawing 60cc of blood from her to make the PRP injection. Her words cannot be improved upon so we will let her tell her result! More and more clinicians are trying orthobiologics instead of steroids or pain meds….no need to wait 10 years!
No one gets 100% positive reviews but we sure try to make sure all of our patients’ questions and concerns are addressed before, during, and after their PRP and stem cell procedures. If you are looking for a board certified specialized orthopedic surgeon to give you an honest opinion about how you may benefit from PRP or stem cells instead of surgery (or sometimes in conjunction with surgery)please give us a call.
