Hi Pat! I think it could. Cartilage loss is cartilage loss even with an autoimmune attack but the question would be if he does achieve new cartilage growth with stem cell treatment would it be attacked again? So my thought would be it could work but for how long? I'm not sure the answer to that. Has he tried Hyaluronic acid injections yet? Much less expensive and can be done repeatedly without consequence. Looking forward to seeing you both this season!!!
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Stem cell injections for the knees
We hadn't heard about Hyaluronic acid injections. He will ask about it at the next appointment. I am sending you a PM about a possible Steamboat meet up next season.
I have pretty severe knee arthritis due to a very unusual fungal infection that likely occurred during ACL and meniscus repair that were torn while skiing in 2010. After 2 additional arthroscopies and 2 years after the initial surgery the fungus was diagnosed. I had a 4th knee surgery in the span of 3 years to scrape out all the infected bone and remove infected soft tissue including cartilage. The fungus destroyed just about all my meniscus and most of the cartilage. Almost exactly a year ago I had a autologous stem cell injection w/ PRP into my knee. It felt a little better for the 1st couple of months. I had post-procedure MRIs done at 3 and 6 months without any additional cartilage growth. Skied about 25 days last season and knee was pretty sore most of the season, maybe a little worse than the season before the procedure. Today, the knee feels a little worse than pre-stem cell. One my practice partners has a patient that had a shoulder stem cell injection who showed cartilage grown on a post-procedure MRI. Not sure how much and how many months post-procedure though. I’ve had patients who have had stem cell injection who have had improvement in pain and others who have not. Seems like a bit of a crap shoot overall.
