What does Wake Nonsurgical Offer in terms of Stem cells?
Wake Nonsurgical Ortho currently offers Microfragmented Adipose stem cell injections.
Benefits of Adipose injections:
- Well tolerated less invasive procedure than Bone Marrow
- Safety profile seems to be good
- Number of cells in adipose tissue is very high
Here is a study on MFAT vs BMAC : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6811695/
Here is a study on MFAT alone: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00402-023-05143-y#:~:text=Conclusions,benefits%20at%20mid%2Dterm%20evaluation.
In most cases we still suggest trying high dose PRP first, but patients are in charge of their own health and can make their own decisions after meeting with Dr Kanaan.
What does the FDA say about stem cells?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for the evaluation of
drug and biologic product safety. The FDA regulates the use of stem cells as
Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue Based Products (HCT/Ps) under
CFR Title 21 Part 1271. Most stem cells that are approved are use in the treatment of blood cancers.
Unsafe and NOT approved Stem cells include:
- Amniotic tissue Stem cells
- Exosomes
- Any bone marrow or fat cells that are more than minimally manipulated in any way
You can read more here from the FDA : https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/consumers-biologics/consumer-alert-regenerative-medicine-products-including-stem-cells-and-exosomes
There are some stem cell injections for Orthopedics that the FDA “allows” currently (but does not “approve”), so long as the clinic does not make any false claims.
These include:
- Adipose (fat) cell transfers
- BMAC (bone marrow) transfers
However these cells must not be manipulated in any way. And the clinic must not claim that they can “regrow” cartilage or cure arthritis.
Why try PRP first ?
Recent studies are showing that High Dose PRP may be more effective than steroid injections or Stem Cell injections with much less cost.
Here are some studies : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02632-w
https://josr-online.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13018-020-01753-z
https://www.arthroscopyjournal.org/article/S0749-8063(24)00269-X/fulltext
https://press.rsna.org/timssnet/media/pressreleases/14_pr_target.cfm?id=2386
What can we summarize from studies?
- Stem Cell (fat, bone marrow) treatments seem to give equal relief to steroid
- PRP seems give superior and longer lasting pain relief compared to steroid
- High dose PRP seems to be better than low dose PRP for many patients
- Steroid is not great for joints and tissues longer term, and can degrade tissue
- PRP is also less invasive and less costly than stem cell procedures.
CONCLUSION : For the majority of our patients, High Dose PRP will work just as well, or better than stem cell injections at a lower cost to the patient.
Don’t wait! Contact us today to experience pain relief without the risk of surgery. call (919)719-2270 , or click the appointment button in the upper right corner of the screen.