Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate Injections for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Relatively higher-quality human studies compared with other topics in this database, e.g. multiple RCTs or systematic reviews. This does not mean it is standard or approved care.

• 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 Osteoarthritis (OA) poses a significant global burden, with conventional treatments like corticosteroid and hyaluronic acid (HA) injections commonly used. Emerging injectable biologics, including bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC), show promise in OA management. Purpose To investigate the clinical efficacy of BMAC injection compared with other injection treatments for knee OA. Study design Systematic review; Level of evidence, 1. Methods A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar to identify randomized controlled trials with Level 1 evidence that compared the clinical efficacy of BMAC with other injections. The visual analog scale for pain and the Pain subscale of the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) were used as clinical scores representing pain. For functional assessment, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index and the International Knee Documentation Committee subjective form were used. For studies comparing BMAC with HA, each clinical score was standardized to pain and function scales based on the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Results Eight studies, consisting of a total of 937 patients, were included. Patients treated with BMAC showed a significant improvement in clinical scores compared with baseline, starting at 1 month postinjection. For pain

Evidence level

Relatively higher-quality human studies compared with other topics in this database, e.g. multiple RCTs or systematic reviews. This does not mean it is standard or approved care.

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