Autologous bone marrow stem cell therapy effects
When you're young, your knee joint is healthy, but as you age, the cartilage and surrounding tissue wears away, causing inflammation, swelling, and pain. Cartilage has no blood vessels and no stem cells to regenerate it, so once it's damaged, it can't regenerate itself.
As degenerative arthritis progresses, the last resort is "artificial joint surgery". This is when autologous bone marrow stem cell injections become an alternative.
Centrifuging bone marrow taken from a patient's hip and injecting the concentrated bone marrow stem cells into the knee joint can help relieve pain and improve function.
- 1
It uses autologous bone marrow stem cells, so there is no immune rejection.
- 2The stem cell harvest is performed under local anesthesia, making the process simple.
- 3
Stem cells are not externally cultured, so there is no risk of genetic modification.
- 4
It's a quick procedure, and it's not just a temporary fix.
Autologous bone marrow stem cell treatment process
To accurately diagnose a patient's knee joint condition, imaging modalities such as MRI or X-ray will be used to assess the extent of cartilage damage and the progression of degenerative arthritis to determine if autologous bone marrow stem cell therapy may be effective.
STEP 1 Autologous bone marrow collection
Collecting autologous bone marrow from a patient's body
STEP 2 Filter cells
Bone marrow infusion in high-performance kits
STEP 3 Centrifuge
STEP 4 Bone marrow plasmapheresis
STEP 5 Extract stem cells
STEP 6 Inject the painful area
Intra-articular stem cell injection in the knee
Who is eligible for autologous bone marrow stem cell therapy?
Patients with degenerative arthritis who have cartilage damage but no leg bone deformity may be candidates for autologous bone marrow stem cell therapy. In the later stages of degenerative arthritis, when the cartilage in the knee has completely worn away, stem cell therapy is unlikely to have much effect, and artificial joint surgery should be considered.
There are two grades for imaging: KL, which indicates the degree of degenerative arthritis, and ICRS, which indicates the degree of cartilage damage. KL Grade 2-3and ICRS Level 3 or 4a patient with knee osteoarthritis is a candidate for bone marrow stem cell therapy.
👉 Patients with grade 1 arthritis with less severe symptoms or grade 4 arthritis with more advanced arthritis may not see much benefit.
KL Tier 1
Intermittent pain when moving a joint
KL Tier 2
Increased pain when going up and down stairs, and walking is unnatural with constant pain
KL Tier 3
KL Level 4
Pain from bones grinding against each other because the cartilage is nearly worn away, making it difficult to do daily activities
Autologous bone marrow stem cell casualty insurance
Knee bone marrow stem cell therapy was recognized as a "new medical technology" by the Department of Health and Human Services in July 2023, meaning that the safety and efficacy of the treatment has been legally proven, and therefore, it may be covered by malpractice insurance.
And based on the grade of your X-ray, MRI, or arthroscopy, you must meet the following requirements to be eligible for loss of income coverage
The joints have a clear narrowing of the gap (KL grade 2-3)
Patients with arthritis with cartilage damage of 50% or greater (ICRS grade 3-4).
| Other stem cell therapies | Bone marrow stem cell therapy |
|---|---|
| Applied through a small incision Requires anesthesia Weight-bearing restrictions for 3 to 6 weeks after surgery Cartilage defect area 2 to 9 cm2 The cost of treatment is around 10 million won |
Injections without incisions No anesthesia required Resume normal activities immediately after treatment Cartilage defect area is not limited 1/3 the cost of other stem cell therapies |
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