Additional mesenchymal stem cell injection improves the outcomes of marrow stimulation combined with supramalleolar osteotomy in varus ankle osteoarthritis: short-term clinical results with second-look arthroscopic evalu

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Background Supramalleolar osteotomy (SMO) is reported to be an effective treatment for varus ankle osteoarthritis by redistributing the load line within the ankle joint. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been proposed as a new treatment option for osteoarthritis on the basis of their cartilage regeneration ability. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical, radiological, and second-look arthroscopic outcomes between MSC injection with marrow stimulation and marrow stimulation alone in patients with varus ankle osteoarthritis who have undergone SMO. Methods In this retrospective study, 62 patients (64 ankles) with varus ankle osteoarthritis underwent second-look arthroscopy at a mean of 12.8 months after arthroscopic marrow stimulation combined with SMO; 33 ankles were subjected to marrow stimulation alone (group I), and 31 were subjected to marrow stimulation with MSC injection (group II). Clinical outcome measures included a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score. Radiological outcome variables included the tibial-ankle surface (TAS), talar tilt (TT), and tibial-lateral surface (TLS) angles. In second-look arthroscopy, cartilage regeneration was evaluated using the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grade. Results The mean VAS score improved significantly from 7.2 ± 1.0 to 4.7 ± 1.4 in group

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

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