Adipose Tissue Stem Cells for Knee Arthritis and Cartilage Lesions: A Three-Year Follow Up.

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)

Introduction The purpose of this research article is to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of injections of stromal vascular fraction (SVF), obtained with mini-lipoaspiration of fat tissue for knee osteoarthritis and cartilage lesions. Materials and methods Between January 2018 and February 2021, a total of 76 patients (45 females and 31 males, mean age 64 years; range 53-75 years, body mass index [BMI] no more than 30%, with symptomatic primary osteoarthritis of the knee, without previous arthroscopic intervention) underwent a local tumescent lipoaspiration procedure of 60-80cc of fat tissue from the abdomen. SVF was obtained after centrifugation according to the AdiPrep® Adipose Transfer System (Harvest-Terumo, Plymouth, Massachusetts) technique. The final product was checked with flow cytometry for absolute numbers, vitality, and the cluster of differentiation (CD) population. It was injected intraarticularly into the patients knees. Patients were divided in two groups: Group 1 had patients with knee osteoarthritis Kellgren-Lawrence grade early 4 and Group 2 with osteoarthritis K-L grade 2-3. The International Knee Documentation Committee (IKCD) and Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaires were used to evaluate clinical effects and measure patient's subjective assessment of pain, joint mobility, and physical disability before the injections. They

Evidence level

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

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