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Can using stem cells help you avoid knee replacement?

In the next two blog posts, I’d like to highlight two patients. Even though our Regenexx-C stem cell data for knees shows that we get about 2-3 patients with significant patient improvement per one treatment failure, I will highlight one success and one failure. My goal is two things. The first is to fairly report that like any medical procedure, while a stem cell procedure used to treat severe knee arthritis and avoid knee replacement will have more successes than failures, there are patients that don’t respond. The second is that this patient highlights an important issue of the cost of his stem cell procedure versus the cost of a knee replacement surgery (for Regenexx-C, his cost was $17,000 plus the cost of travel and accommodation, for the knee replacement the cost in dollars quoted as QR below was $44,000 USD). Note that the pricing for our stem cell work varies from a low of $1,000 to several thousand for a blood platelet and same day marrow procedure. His costs are for the cultured procedure down in the Cayman Islands. His opinions on cost analysis don’t reflect any yet published data and are just that, his opinions.

His story, in his words below:

“Having had several arthroscopies on both knees which only deteriorated the knee joints further resulting in constant pain and reducing my mobility. Specialist at Aspetar (Aspire) recommended uni-compartmental implants at a cost of QR 80,000 for each knee  (total QR 160,000 for both knees), alternative knee replacements recommended by Orthopedic  Surgeons at Hamad Hospital and Doha Clinic Hospital, this being medium term solutions entailing further partial destruction of the joints and replaced with artificial knee joints which also require complete replacement after a period.

Stem Cell (bone marrow extraction) offered a very cost effective (cost $17,000 + cost of travel/accommodation) and natural regenerative solution which has resulted in complete and natural recovery and return to normal life, as also evident in the follow up MRI (see partial MRI shots of the worse effected right knee joint above).

Stem Cell Procedure & Subsequent Recovery

26 October 2011 – Bone marrow extraction at Clinic in Grand Cayman Island for the Regenexx treatment by visiting doctor, Dr Ron Hanson of Centeno-Schultz Clinic (Denver, Colorado, USA).

Stem cells cultured from bone marrow extraction in Laboratory in G. Cayman Island.

23 January 2012 – Pre-injection into both knees administered by Dr Ron Hanson  –

After experiencing initial pain in both knees previous joint pains diminished and with knee braces able to walk without pain and without the aid of walking stick.

26 January 2012 – Stem Cell injections into both knees administered by Dr Ron Hanson  –

Severe pain in both leg muscles resulting in near immobilization for 36 hours, subsequently absence of all joint pains noted and able to walk a considerable distance with knee braces.

30 January 2012 – Post injections into both knees administered by Dr Ron Hanson  –

Able to walk normally with knee braces, knee joints still feel weak.

10 weeks after Stem Cell Treatment – Knee joints feel fully recovered, able to walk several kilometers without knee braces and no pain, see the follow up MRI above and compare with previous MRI of the worst affected right knee.

As advised by Dr Ron Hanson, full joint recovery normally takes 3 to 6 months (similar to bone fracture recovery).”

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