Microdrilling Augmented With Peripheral Blood Stem Cells
A 2011 study reports histologically confirmed hyaline cartilage regrowth in a 5 patient case-series, 2 with grade IV bipolar or kissing lesions in the knee. The successful protocol involves arthroscopic microdrilling/ microfracture surgery followed by postoperative injections of autologous peripheral blood progenitor cells(PBPC's) and hyaluronic acid(HA). PBPC’s are a blood product containing mesenchymal stem cells and is obtained by mobilizing the stem cells into the peripheral blood. Dr. Khay Yong Saw and his team propose that the microdrilling surgery creates a blood clot scaffold on which injected PBPC’s can be recruited and enhance chondrogenesis at the site of the contained lesion. They explain that the significance of this cartilage regeneration protocol is that it is successful in patients with historically difficult-to-treat grade IV bipolar or bone-on-bone osteochondral lesions.
Dr. Saw and his team are currently conducting a larger randomized trial and working towards beginning a multicenter study. The work of the Malaysian research team is gaining international attention.
Read more about this topic: Knee Cartilage Replacement Therapy
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