Level C· Early human research exploring benefits
Clinical use of autologous adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction cell injections for hip osteoarthritis
Onoi Y., Matsumoto T., Sobajima S., Kuroda R.
42 hip osteoarthritis patients received a single intra-articular injection averaging 3.8 × 10⁷ SVF cells, with at least six months of follow-up.
Level C· Early human research exploring benefitsEvidence level of this study
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
- Study type
- Prospective Study
- Journal
- Regenerative Therapy (2023)
- Country
- Japan
- Sample size
- 42
- Follow-up
- At least 6 months
- PMID
- 37363753
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.reth.2023.06.006
What was studied
Short-term clinical outcomes of SVF cell therapy for hip osteoarthritis.
Methods
- • SVF harvested from abdominal or buttock fat using a Celution 800/CRS system (mean viability 90.8%).
- • Assessed with the Harris Hip Score and Japanese Orthopaedic Association hip disease evaluation.
Key findings
- • Hip function scores improved over short-term follow-up.
- • Participants spanned KL grades II–IV.
Limitations
- • No control group and small sample size.
- • Only six months of follow-up.
What this study does not prove
- • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
- • Limited follow-up cannot indicate long-term outcomes.
Clinical interpretation
Preliminary evidence for the hip, an area with far less data than the knee.
Evidence level: Early human research exploring benefits