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Another Intenventional Orthopedics First: Injecting Stem Cells into a Knee Cap with AVN

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stem cell avn treatment

Can knee cap AVN be treated without surgery?  Is stem cell AVN treatment possible?  The above pictures (as far as we know) are unique. Avascular necrosis (osteonecrosis) is a disease where the bone literally turns to mush. It can be caused by lots of things including steroids, alcoholism, other chemical insults, and trauma. In this case, this poor 16 year old young man hit his knee on a diving board. After having unrelenting knee cap pain an MRI (shown above) demonstrated a large osteonecrosis (AVN) lesion (yellow dashed lines) in the patella. He was told he needed an open surgical resection of this lesion with a bone plug inserted, major surgery that would have left him with significant down time and risks of serious side effects. Above you’ll note that instead of open patella surgery (see image below for reference), he instead chose a Regenexx-SD procedure, which was a sophisticated and exacting injection of his own stem cells into the patellar bone where the AVN lesion was located. See the fluoroscopic images to the right that show the needle in the patella (patella inside white dashed lines and avn lesion inside the yellow dashed lines). The upshot? What sounds better? Major surgery as below, or a guided injection of stem cells, the first stem cell AVN treatment, into your patella? You decide… We’re opting for the interventional orthopedics approach!

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Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile

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NOTE: This blog post provides general information to help the reader better understand regenerative medicine, musculoskeletal health, and related subjects. All content provided in this blog, website, or any linked materials, including text, graphics, images, patient profiles, outcomes, and information, are not intended and should not be considered or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please always consult with a professional and certified healthcare provider to discuss if a treatment is right for you.

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