Knee ACL Tear and Post Traumatic Arthritis

A knee ACL Tear is such a violent injury that degenerative arthritis will occur in the future with or without surgery. Because an ACL tear is so violent to the joint, often the meniscus is torn as well. In this case, if ACL repair is done surgically, the meniscus is often debrided as well. 

ACL Tears

This long term will also accelerate the development of degenerative knee arthritis. In the animal model, it was shown that stem cell placement within a week of ACL tear did not result in degenerative knee arthritis. Delay of a month still resulted in degenerative knee arthritis, however it was not as severe as if not done. 

Regenerative Medicine and Knee Arthritis

The problem is in human medicine nothing is as simple as a controlled animal study. Patients are often outside this time period, or have already developed degenerative knee arthritis.

Understanding that degenerative knee arthritis is a progressive disorder, it is never to late to consider Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Therapy as a means of halting the progression, or reversing the degenerative condition to some degree.