Meniscus tears are very common. Surgery to remove the torn part of the meniscus is also very common. Unfortunately, many people who have torn their meniscus, or who have the torn piece removed will go on to develop osteoarthritis. Until recently, a person with persistent pain following meniscus surgery had very few options. They could undergo a meniscus transplant, or simply try medications or injections to treat the pain.
In January 2014 a preliminary, but exciting study revealed that a single injection of stem cells may help certain patients regrow a portion of the meniscus which was removed at the time of surgery. This study also showed that pain relief was higher in the stem cell-treated meniscus tear group.
Each knee contains two menisci. The meniscus functions as a shock absorber. It also helps distribute your weight across the knee joint to minimize the stress on the bones and articular cartilage. A torn meniscus is not capable of functioning normally. This results in abnormal stresses around the knee which can lead to arthritis, further loss of cartilage and pain.
There was evidence of meniscus regeneration and improvement in knee pain following treatment with allogeneic human mesenchymal stem cells. These results support the study of human mesenchymal stem cells for the apparent knee-tissue regeneration and protective effects.
What are stem cells?
Stem cells are unique cells within our body. They are “immature” which means that they haven’t grown into a skin cell, a cartilage cell, or a heart cell yet. Stem cells have the ability to grow into almost any type of cell within our body. Each tissue in our body has unique chemical compounds. Those chemicals can cause stem cells to start the process of maturing and becoming a fully developed cell. Theoretically.. if a stem cell is placed in the knee, the chemicals present in the knee will lead the stem cells to mature into cartilage cells.
Can Stem Cells Treat A Meniscus Tear?
The study quoted above was the first (to my knowledge) to show that stem cells, injected into the knee can regrow a portion of the meniscus which was removed at the time of surgery. The study showed that some patients regrew up to 20% of the torn part of the meniscus. More importantly, this study showed that patients who received the stem cells after their surgery felt better and had better pain scores.
This is the first in what will likely be a number of studies to determine whether or not stem cells possess the ability to completely regrow a meniscus after a portion of it is removed. Further studies will be needed to see if two or more treatments can improve the amount of the meniscus that grew back. Further study is also needed to see if these results stand the test of time. Will the new meniscus tissue last?
This is a very exciting time. Can stem cells treat meniscus tears? Should you receive stem cells after your meniscus surgery? These are very important questions and it is something you need to discuss with your doctor.
Please keep in mind that this is still considered experimental.
Ladawn
I am 16. My knees pop when they are bent, straight, or I squat for long periods of time and my hips, back and shoulders pop a lot. It is pretty painful. My mom has the same thing. I need to know if I should go in for a check up just in case this is something serious or not.
John P.
Dr. Luks, like many of the others here, I am an active 52 year old. I frequently golf in the summer and up until my second knee surgery, was a hockey goaltender. I have had to stop playing hockey due to constant knee pain. I frequently miss golf due to the pain as well. I have had a good portion of my meniscus cut away as the surgeon said it was split…and he hadn’t seen this happen before. My second surgery they tried Micro-Fracture to help stimulate the blood flow in the area. Several years later and it is still painful. I am very interested in trying the stem cell research, going in knowing it will not regrow the meniscus. Do you know of any doctors in the Detroit area doing this research? I am willing to travel if this research will help others!!! Due to recent blood clot issues (antiphospholipid syndrome) I am avoiding knee replacement or even partial knee replacement due to risks. Looking for help as my quality of life is not what it was prior. Thank you.
Howard J. Luks, MD
Sorry to hear about your issues John. Stem cell therapy may or may not help with your pain. It certainly will not regenerate your knee. People with hyper coagulability can have knee replacements if your doc and your hematologist work together. It is a tough decision though.
Howard Luks
James
Hi Dr. Howard,
I had my meniscus repaired in December 2014. It was a small longitudinal tear of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus.The pain has largely gone away and functionality restored. But after periods of prolonged physical activity and deep squatting I still have some pain upon full flection.
I am considering having a ‘fat derived adipose stem cell’ injection into my knee to encourage further healing.Have you had any experience of using this type of treatment? Do you think it is worthwhile in encouraging additional healing as I worry the sutures will eventually burst?
It seems to make zero sense to me to cut out the meniscus shock absorber when medical science seems so close to a biological solution.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated
Regards
J.H
Howard J. Luks, MD
J.H .. there is no high quality data to support it’s use for anything other than an anti-inflammatory at this time. Quality, useful Stem cell technologies are coming … but they’re not ready for prime time yet. Too much more research needed. Sure there are docs offering the procedure. But it has not been shown to be curative… only palliative.
James
Hi Dr. Howard,
Thanks for the feedback.
Just one more question:When you say useful stem cell therapies ‘are coming…. ‘ what kind of time frame in years are you talking? Will it be 5,10 or maybe even 20 years away before real working effective therapies are available? I have a dream to return to running some day if these therapies can heal my chronic meniscus tear.
Regards
J.H
Selwyn DelHomme
Dr Luke,
I am 71, started playing tennis after a 15 year layoff because of issues with my left knee which I had replaced 18 months ago.
My MRI shows a tear in the meniscus of my right knee along with a bit of arthritis.. I have been doing physical therapy for 2 months with little or no reduction of pain or increase in stability.
In your opinion would it be more practical to have surgery for the meniscus and then, maybe after 3 months, try the Stem Cell/PRP injections.
Thanks,
S.D.