Tsoukas, D.; Muntean, I.; Simos, C.; Sabido-Vera, R. Prospective Observational Study of a Non-Arthroscopic Autologous Cartilage Micrografting Technology for Knee Osteoarthritis. Bioengineering2023, 10, 1294.
Tsoukas, D.; Muntean, I.; Simos, C.; Sabido-Vera, R. Prospective Observational Study of a Non-Arthroscopic Autologous Cartilage Micrografting Technology for Knee Osteoarthritis. Bioengineering 2023, 10, 1294.
Tsoukas, D.; Muntean, I.; Simos, C.; Sabido-Vera, R. Prospective Observational Study of a Non-Arthroscopic Autologous Cartilage Micrografting Technology for Knee Osteoarthritis. Bioengineering2023, 10, 1294.
Tsoukas, D.; Muntean, I.; Simos, C.; Sabido-Vera, R. Prospective Observational Study of a Non-Arthroscopic Autologous Cartilage Micrografting Technology for Knee Osteoarthritis. Bioengineering 2023, 10, 1294.
Abstract
Autologous micrografting technology (AMT®) involves the use of autologous micrografts to stimulate/enhance the repair of damaged tissue. This study assessed the efficacy and safety of the AMT® procedure in patients with early stages of knee osteoarthritis. Briefly, the AMT® procedure involved extraction of auricular cartilage, disaggregation using the Rigeneracons® SRT in 4.0 mL of saline solution and injection of the disaggregated micrografts into the external femorotibial compartment area of the affected knee. Ten patients (4 men, 6 women; age range: 37─84 years) were included in the study. In all patients, there was a steady improvement in knee instability, pain, swelling, mechanical locking, stair climbing and squatting at 1- and 6-months post-procedure. Improvement in mobility was observed as early as 3 weeks post-procedure in 2 patients. Significant improvements were seen in mean scores of all five subscales of Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS [KOOS symptoms, KOOS pain, KOOS ADL, KOOS sport and recreation, and KOOS quality-of-life]) between pre-procedure and 1- and 6-months post-procedure (all p≤0.05). Autologous auricular cartilage micrografts obtained by AMT® procedure (using Rigenera® technology) is an effective and safe protocol in the treatment of early-stage knee osteoarthritis. These encouraging findings need to be validated in a larger patient population.
Keywords
autologous, intra-articular, knee osteoarthritis, micrograft technology, pain management, regenerative medicine
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
