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cells

relief of pain in the knee, low back & joints

Bone Marrow Cell Therapy

Medicinal Signaling Cells (MSCs) called pericytes, formerly known as Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells, are harvested from you, the adult.  This is accomplished with a simple procedure known as a bone marrow aspiration.  Although it sounds terrible, the procedure is quite tolerable and is performed in the office with the use of local anesthetic.  The procedure consists of collecting a sample of blood from bone marrow which is rich in MSCs, this is referred to as bone marrow aspiration.  The sample of blood collected from the bone marrow is then placed in a centrifuge which separates the sample into components which include plasma (protein-rich water), red and white blood cells, and MSCs or pericytes.  The separation of the sample results in the ability to then extract the concentrated cell from the remainder of bone marrow products.  The concentrated cells have been termed as Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate, otherwise known as BMAC.   

Once the concentrated BMAC has been obtained, it is ready for injection into the site of interest.  Knee pain, secondary to osteoarthritis, is the most common indication for the use of BMAC at In2it Medical.  This is followed closely by low back and sacroiliac (SI), shoulder, elbow, ankle, foot, hand and wrist complaints.  

Some common reasons why people choose to participate in this type of procedure are:

  • Not ready for surgery

  • Cannot have surgery secondary to cardiac or allergy issues

  • There is not a good surgery for their painful condition

  • Unstable joints

  • Ligament or tendon injury

  • Desire to return to activity quickly with minimal recovery time

  • Natural and safe

The whole process from bone marrow aspiration to treatment of the problematic area takes 1.5-2 hours depending on the treated area.

 

Common Questions & Answers

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How Does It Work?

Bone Marrow cells are multi-potent cells that we harvest from the patient's body. This means that they can differentiate into a variety of connective tissue cell types, including: bone, cartilage, ligament, tendon and muscle cells. For best results, the medicinal signaling cells (MSCs) need to be placed in the area of concern in order to correct, strengthen and heal the tissue of interest.   

 

 
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What Conditions Might Benefit From Bone Marrow Cell Injections?

Bone Marrow cell injections are most commonly used for the treatment of conditions that have failed or responded incompletely to other more conservative treatments. Conditions include, but are not limited to:

  • Osteoarthritis of the joints

  • Chronic partial Rotator Cuff tears

  • Persistent partial tendon tears, such as tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, quadriceps and patellar tendon tears.

  • Partial muscle tears

  • Meniscal (cartilage) tears in the knee

  • Chondromalacia patella (patellofemoral syndrome)

 
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Are There Risks Associated With Bone Marrow Cell Treatment?

Any injection is potentially at-risk for causing infection, bleeding or nerve damage. Risks will also vary depending on the structure(s) being injected. However, because we are using your own cells, you cannot be allergic.  Also, because the injections are done under ultrasound guidance, the risks of damaging surrounding structures, or of injecting the wrong location, are almost completely eliminated.

 
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How Often Are Treatments Given?

Generally one treatment is administered and the patient will be seen back in the office in 6 weeks with Mike Nelson- PA, to assess response. As the healing with MSCs is documented to continue out past a year, a second injection would be considered at 3-6 months depending on the amount of improvement seen and desired.