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By: Dr. Elton Gomez, Specialist in Regenerative Medicine
Stem cells, used properly, are becoming the new benchmark for the treatment of affected joints in orthopedics.
Mesenchymal stem cells can become cartilage cells, and they also can promote the growth and restructuring of cartilage and other joint structures involved in the maintenance and proper functioning of joints, such as ligaments and tendons.
Likewise, certain types of stem cells may be involved in the better functioning of the muscles that control and manipulate are related to the proper functioning of the body’s joint systems. As they are paravertebral muscles, biceps of the leg and quadriceps.
Injections of mesenchymal stem cells, in patients with chondromalacia patella or osteoarthritis of large joints such as the knees and others such as the shoulders, vertebral joints, neck and lumbar region, hip, and even small ones such as those of the hands, reduce pain in 50 to 60% the first month and 80 to 90% after 3 to 5 months.
The conservative treatment offered by some traumatologists is pain control through medication, and then the next step is to propose joint replacement surgery to the patient. Recent studies have unequivocally demonstrated the possibility of cartilage recovery using mesenchymal stem cells.
In a recent study conducted on 30 patients suffering from joint pain in various joints, particularly in the knee joints, these patients reported improvement in symptoms after intra-articular application of a variable dose of stem cells, ranging between 15 and 20 million.
Most patients undergoing this procedure reported symptom improvement within the first 30 days after application, the rest reported improvement in pain and increased mobility after 90 to 180 days.
It is important to consider that the application of mesenchymal stem cells must be carried out by an expert who knows the subject and is trained in its use, and this application must be carried out only after having made a thorough study of the case to see the possibilities of improvement with this technique.
