Acute Knee Meniscal Tear
Acute Knee Meniscal Tear in an Athlete Treated with Stem Cell Therapy. A California multi-sports athlete sustained a knee meniscal tear after a fall. He was in his early 20’s and was well aware of the long-term outcome of knee meniscal debridement, and the difficulty treating these injuries due to the poor blood supply to the knee meniscus.
He was very concerned with the development of knee arthritis as sports was a way of life for him. It may be considered a very valid preventative and regenerative approach to consider stem cells in lieu of the more common knee surgery. Many studies have shown the long-term associated development of knee osteoarthritis following knee surgery. The lateral meniscus has a much graver prognosis in this regard compared to the medial meniscus. For these reasons, this patient consulted Dennis M. Lox, M.D., a stem cell expert in Beverly Hills, California. Dr. Lox agreed with his concerns and he elected to proceed with knee stem cells. Many patients are turning to this approach at earlier stages to avert the progressive nature of knee joint arthritis. Data for 10 and 20-year outcomes are not available.
The data from knee surgery is. The ability to affect the degenerative cascade after knee trauma has been shown quite effectively in animal studies. Humans are diverse in nature, and the demands impacted upon their knees are vastly different compared to studies in animals, which do not display such variability as running marathons. In as such, halting the degenerative process at earlier time increments makes complete sense when projecting known long-term outcomes with ineffective osteoarthritis treatments. Arthritis medications (NSAIDS), cortisone and Hyaluronic Acid injections do not alter the progression of knee arthritis. Knee surgery accelerates this process.
Altering the playing field at the cellular signaling level is what stem cells do. Stem cells may also differentiate into new cartilage cells which may repair the knee meniscus. No other commonly employed treatment is capable of doing this. Therefore when looking at projections for long-term effects, the short-term consequence of halting the degenerative cascade should alter the progressive path trajectory that would occur without stem cells, especially in athletes who continue to impart wear to their knees.
If you’re in pain or had an injury and are looking for an alternative to surgery, contact us immediately at one of our locations. Our Main Medical Center located in Tampa Bay, Florida (727) 462-5582 or at Beverly Hills, California (310) 975-7033.
