ADSC Injections for Pain Management of Osteoarthritis in the Human Knee Joint

This safety and feasibility study used autologous adipose-derived stromal cells, the stromal vascular fraction, to treat 8 osteoarthritic knees in 6 patients of grade I to III (K-L scale) with initial pain of 4 or greater on a 10 point scale, under IRB-approved protocol. Evaluation of the safety of intra-articular injection of the stromal vascular fraction cells was the primary objective of the study. Adipose-derived stromal vascular cells were obtained through enzymatic disaggregation of lipoaspirate, resuspended in 3 ml of Lactated Ringer's Solution, and injected directly into the intra-articular space with a mean of 12 million viable nucleated SVF cells per knee.

Inclusion criteria

• voluntarily provided written Informed Consent
• ages 20-70
• male or female
• grades I-III radiologically documented OA of one or both knees
• American Society Anaesthesiologists (ASA) physical status class I-II and a • BMI less than 35
• knee pain graded as greater than 3 out of 10 on screening questionnaire
• able to speak, read and understand English -

Exclusion criteria

• patient parameters falling outside of the inclusion criteria
• current oral or parenteral steroid or blood thinner use
• hyaluronic acid-based injection to the affected knee joint within the previous six months
• corticosteroid injection to the affected knee joint within the previous three months
• end stage (Grade IV) OA