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Alternatives To Knee Replacement In Atlanta, GA

371 E Paces Ferry Rd NE, Suite 802 Atlanta, GA 30305

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Patient FAQs

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common orthopedic conditions. If you are experiencing OA, you understand the pain and discomfort involved and how it can negatively impact your quality of life and enjoyment of daily activities.

Historically, many patients over 40 with knee pain due to osteoarthritis (commonly referred to as arthritis) have been advised to try physical therapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs), hyaluronate or corticosteroid knee injections to reduce pain and inflammation. If these are not helpful, the next recommendation is often arthroscopic knee surgery to repair or remove any damaged cartilage or tissue that may be causing the pain. If the surgery doesn’t deliver the desired results, then total knee joint replacement is usually recommended.

Alternative to knee replacement surgery for osteoarthritis

Numerous studies2 evaluating the results of common orthopedic knee surgeries have shown that these procedures generally don’t work unless the patient is younger than 40 years of age. Even then, successful outcomes are not guaranteed. If this is new information to you, you are not alone. A lot of people don’t know that surgery isn’t always the solution. Read on to learn more about our regenerative medicine alternatives to knee replacement surgery for osteoarthritis.

371 E Paces Ferry Rd NE
Suite 802
Atlanta, GA 30305

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Doctors

When working with patients, Dr. Williams wholeheartedly believes in a holistic approach to medicine and takes pride in building a partnership with each patient so that they can learn the skills to be able to achieve their functional goals in life.

He is the founder and medical director of Interventional Orthopedics of Atlanta, the first physician in the licensed Regenexx network in the state of Georgia, and his research interests include polypharmacy in the elderly, musculoskeletal ultrasound education, and regenerative medicine for orthopedic conditions.

Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Williams enlisted into the Air Force after high school.
Before attending medical school, he taught elementary school science to at-risk youth for a year. Then, while in residency for physical medicine and rehabilitation, he was awarded the resident of the year award three years in a row.

During his personal time, he enjoys traveling with his family, weight lifting, cooking, and outdoor activities.

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Dr. Virlyn L. Bishop has been a well-respected Interventional Pain Management Physician in the Atlanta area for over 10 years. His experience in Interventional Pain Management has included traditional interventional techniques. Over the course of his private pain practice, he also developed expertise in performing minimally invasive surgical techniques for spine pain.

In the latter years of his traditional interventional pain management career, Dr. Bishop became more acutely aware of the trusted and excellent results that Interventional Orthobiologics (PRP, Bone Marrow Concentrate, which contains Stem Cells, Prolotherapy) offered to patients seeking trusted alternative therapeutic options to traditional interventional pain management therapies and to avoid major surgical interventions.

Looking to build upon and further improve patient outcomes that traditional approaches to treatment of spine and orthopedic pain were unable to address, Dr. Bishop began to study medical disciplines that focused on more holistic and nonsurgical approaches to treating patients. This pursuit naturally led Dr. Bishop into the field of interventional orthopedics. Dr. Bishop is excited to join the Interventional Orthopedics of Atlanta and the Regenexx team to further his goal of partnering with patients and empowering them in their pursuit of not just a longer lifespan but a higher quality health span.

A native Georgian, Dr. Bishop completed his undergraduate and medical school education at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. He then completed his Anesthesia Residency and Pain Medicine Fellowship through the Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology. Dr. Bishop has further expanded his education post residency/fellowship with ongoing courses through the Interventional Orthopedics Foundation in regenerative medicine techniques as well as courses through the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. He is a Contributing Editor to “Advanced and Emerging Interventional Techniques” Chapter 35 Williams, C. et al., Atlas of Interventional Orthopedics Procedure, Elsevier. 2023

Dr. Bishop resides in Marietta, GA with his wife and 4 children. His personal interests include reading, gardening, musical instruments, exercise and spending time with his family.

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My father was a physician, and his connection with and ability to help his patients initially sparked my interest in medicine. By the time I was six, I was positive I wanted to become a physician as well. I am fascinated by the mechanics of the human body and employ a holistic, science-based approach to my practice. I have an upbeat, hopeful, and positive attitude with patients and am passionate about providing care that improves quality of life and function so people can be healthy, move, and enjoy life.

Originally from Houston, TX, I have lived in Atlanta for 19 years. I love Atlanta’s vibrant culture, mild seasons, green landscape, and access to travel.

I am in my 19th year of practice as a physician. I hold a BS in Biomedical Engineering, which informs my structural and mechanical understanding of the human body. Between college and medical school, I worked for Lockheed Martin as a Mission Support Scientist on the Shuttle-Mir Space Program in Houston and Moscow. I am double board certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine. I served as Chair of the AAPM&R Opioid Task Force, penning the opioid position paper. I am a member of the American Medical Association Pain Care Task Force. I have held multiple other leadership roles at AAPM&R and North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS), am active in research in spinal cord stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation, intrathecal therapy, and spinal cord injury, and have been an active lecturer at regional, state, national and international meetings over the past two decades. I have expertise in complex neuropathic pain phenomenon, such as spinal cord injury, CRPS, MS, and brain injury. I have served as an adjunct assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine for nearly 19 years.

I cherish time with my wonderful wife and our three amazing children. I also enjoy daily exercise, reading, traveling, watching movies, and walks with my family and our dog. I have not served in the military, but I have tremendous respect for those who have. My father, grandfather, and grandfather-in-law were veterans.

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Areas Treated

Cervical Spine (Not Upper Cervical or CCI)*, Elbow, Foot & Ankle, Hand & Wrist, Hip, Knee, Lumbar Spine, Shoulder, Thoracic Spine

*This provider is NOT authorized by Regenexx to treat the C0-C1 or C1-C2 levels of the neck or CCI (craniocervical instability).

How Does Regenexx Work For Knee Osteoarthritis?

At Regenexx, we invented a new approach to orthopedic care we call Interventional Orthopedics. This minimally invasive alternative to knee surgery uses ultrasound-guided technology to precisely inject your own bone marrow concentrate — which contains stem cells — directly where it’s needed in the joint.

The cells in your bone marrow concentrate work at the site of your injury to promote your body’s natural healing abilities and avoid surgery.

During appointments, Regenexx physicians examine your body in motion and often use Ultrasound to observe the inner workings of the joint in real time. This gives them a much more accurate picture of what’s contributing to your pain, how function is affected, and ultimately, the root cause of the problem. 

Once you’ve been evaluated, your physician will customize a treatment plan based on your specific needs. Our treatments include:

Regenexx-SD: A patented protocol using bone marrow concentrate that contains stem cells

Regenexx SCP: A proprietary formulation of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) that’s more concentrated than what a basic bedside centrifuge machine can produce

Regenexx-PL: Platelet lysate, which is a highly specialized derivative of platelet-rich plasma (PRP)

See how Regenexx helped Stephanie with her chronic pain from knee osteoarthritis.

Am I a candidate?

Note: Like all medical procedures, Regenexx procedures have a success and failure rate. Not all patients will experience the same results.

 

Below are the outcomes of two patients who had Regenexx procedures done for knee osteoarthritis. Scroll the arrow to the right to see the MRI of the knee joint before the Regenexx treatment — the white/ lighter area indicates damage. Scroll to the left to see the MRI of the knee joint after the Regenexx treatment.

Patient 1 MRI: 51 years old

Patient 2 MRI: 46 years old

Patient 1: The patient was unable to return to many activities after unsuccessful microfracture surgery. As a result, underwent percutaneous, autologous, mesenchymal stem cell implant, after which they were able to return to their daily activities.

Patient 2: The patient had unsuccessful arthroscopic debridement surgery, where a large 3 cm. by 4 cm. osteochondral defect on the medial femur was discovered. The patient was then treated with percutaneously implanted autologous mesenchymal stem cells 1.5 years after surgery. The patient was able to return to full functional activities.

Am I a candidate?

Patient FAQs

The knee is actually a joint — the largest one in the body. It is where the thigh (femur) and shin bones (tibia and fibula) meet. The ends of our bones are covered in a smooth, slippery material known as cartilage that helps lubricate the knee joint. This allows the bones to move against each other without friction and protects your joint from stress. Your knee also has two rings of fibrous cartilage known as the meniscus. This structure helps provide stability to the joint and distribute weight evenly.

The knee joint experiences a significant load during weight-bearing activities over a person’s life span. All joints go through normal cycles of damage and repair that can involve thinning and damaging of cartilage, bone spurs, and more, but sometimes the body’s repair process results in changes to the shape or structure of the joints. When this happens, the bones of the joint may no longer be properly aligned or lubricated, which, over time, can cause inflammation, pain, swelling, and stiffness known as osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis can be a result of being overweight, normal aging, or an injury to the joint.

Arthritis is a general term that describes joint inflammation. There are two types of arthritis

  1. Osteoarthritis (OA) – also called degenerative joint disease, is the most common type of arthritis and happens when the cartilage in your joints breaks down, often in your hips, knees, and spine.6
  2. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) – is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system identifies the lining of the joints (synovium) as a threat and attacks it.7

Yes. When we have looked at our data, patients who had less severe arthritis did no better than patients who had bone-on-bone arthritis. Other data published by other authors also confirm this.8

Both X-rays and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can show degenerative arthritis changes in the joints. However, symptoms of osteoarthritis may arise before the damage can be seen in standard X-rays. So practitioners will often use the more sensitive magnetic resonance imaging, which is superior for detecting early osteoarthritis. Also, MRIs show three-dimensional images, while X-rays do not.

While cartilage is important for maximal functioning, its loss is not what causes pain. The most consistent MRI finding associated with pain is swelling in the bone called bone marrow edema (BME) or a bone marrow lesion (BML). Current research on knee pain due to arthritis has shifted from cartilage loss to this bone marrow swelling.

No, they won’t regrow large stretches of cartilage; however, they will help:

  • Replace a worn-out stem cell reserve. The number of those cells available for repair and maintenance goes down as we age and get arthritis.
  • Reboot dying stem cells. Studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells can give their good batteries (mitochondria) to cells that have worn-out batteries, rebooting those dying cells.
  • Treat bone lesions. Microfractures, not cartilage loss, are the source of pain.
  • Reset the environment. The environment inside an arthritic joint has a mix of inflammatory and damaging chemicals.

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What about health insurance or medical benefits? What may be covered or reimbursed depends on the details of your plan. Insurance typically covers evaluations and diagnostic testing (if recommended) but most do not cover Regenexx Procedures. Some Employer specific Regenexx Benefits plans do also cover Regenexx Procedures. Your plan’s representative can help verify your benefits, out-of-pocket costs, and coverage.

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