Bone marrow aspirate concentrate relieves pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis
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According to published results, bone marrow aspirate concentrate relieves pain and improves outcomes in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis; however, it has not demonstrated clinical superiority over other therapeutic options.
Laura E. Keeling, MD, and colleagues used PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases to systematically review eight studies on clinical outcomes of isolated bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) injection in patients (n = 299 knees) with symptomatic knee OA.
Of the 36 patient-reported outcomes (PROs) across all eight studies, 34 PROs (94.4%) “demonstrated significant improvement from baseline to latest follow-up,” Keeling and colleagues wrote in the study. Mean follow-up was 12.9 months. Researchers also noted the five studies that evaluated pain scores using VAS and numeric rating scale scores all found significant improvements in pain scores at final follow-up.
Three studies compared the effectiveness of BMAC injection with other therapeutic injections, such as platelet-rich plasma, micro-fragmented adipose tissue and placebo. These studies found no clinical superiority for BMAC injection in relation to these other therapies.
Despite yielding pain relief and improved PROs, “the high cost of the BMAC injection in comparison with other biologic and nonoperative treatment modalities may limit its utility despite demonstrable clinical benefit,” the researchers concluded.
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