Case Report #1

Case Report #1 - T.M.

Our first stem cell patient is a 35 year old female who presented with right knee pain and swelling.  She weighed 143 pounds at 5'8" height.  She first injured her knee at age 13 when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and damaged the meniscus while playing basketball.  She continued to play for many months before having a knee scope with meniscal repair later that same year.  The following year she underwent ACL reconstruction with another meniscal repair.  Her knee did not improve much after that, and 6 years later she again had an ACL reconstruction and meniscal repair.  The following year she had IT (iliotibial) band repair in an attempt to help stabilize her knee joint.  Finally, 5 years after that (at age 28), she had a meniscectomy to remove the damaged meniscus.

Unfortunately, the end result of these many surgeries was that she had ongoing pain and inability to play sports and be active with her children.  Using a pain scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (unbearable pain), her usual pain was 3-4, and at its most severe was 7-8.  Any activity involving repeated bending of the joint would worsen her symptoms, and she would often then experience days of swelling.  She limited her activity so as to not cause pain, and would have to take anti-inflammatory medications and use ice packs when she was active.  An MRI reported chondromalacia (a break-down of cartilage inside the joint) with evidence of meniscal damage.  She was very reluctant to undergo any other orthopedic surgeries given the dismal results she had in the past, and instead wished to pursue a stem cell injection.

We helped to implement a pre-op plan involving her diet, addition of a variety of supplements, and cessation of tobacco smoking and alcohol use.  She was very motivated and completely eliminated smoking and alcohol for months prior to surgery.  She then underwent stem cell harvesting using manual liposuction, along with preparation of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from her blood.  Once her stem cells were isolated, we mixed the stem cells and PRP and injected this mixture into her right knee joint. 

She experienced some discomfort for a day or two after the injection, but this pain was not any worse than her usual pain.  Our post-op plan consisted of a continuation of her diet, along with continued abstinence form tobacco and alcohol.  We also avoided anti-inflammatories after the procedure, as the inflammatory process helps the stem cells and PRP heal the damaged tissues.  We started a physical therapy plan at that time as well.  Initially this consisted of passive reistance exercises.  She did these for two weeks, then advanced to mild weight bearing exercises (such as half-lunges and partial squats).  As these exercises became easier over the following few weeks, we then advanced to full range of motion exercises, then on to weight lifting.  She was able to do these with very minimal pain and less swelling than in the past.  She now is able to play basketball again, ride a bicycle, take long hikes with her children, and even perform plyometric (ie., "jump training") exercises, all of which were out of the question just a few months ago!  She is very happy with the results, and is a firm believer in stem cells!