People who have long struggled with chronic orthopedic conditions – particularly arthritis in the joints – might find relief with orthobiologic therapy, a relatively new treatment option.
Also known as regenerative medicine, orthobiologic therapy uses the body’s natural properties to initiate a healing response to help ease pain and improve function.
That should come as welcome news for people with acute and chronic orthopedic conditions who have exhausted all other treatment options with little or no relief.
Orthobiologic therapy is used to treat conditions like joint arthritis, tendinitis, ligament injuries and others. These therapies are safe, non-surgical, alternative options that improve pain and function in people with degenerative orthopedic conditions.
There are two main orthobiologic therapy options: Platelet-rich plasma and bone marrow aspirate concentrate.
The platelet-rich plasma option uses the patient’s blood platelets to initiate an inflammatory/recovery process through the use of growth factors and chemical signals released by the platelets.
The process starts with a blood draw. A centrifuge is used to isolate and concentrate the platelets, which then are injected into the area of concern. This can be used alone or in concert with the bone marrow aspirate concentrate treatment for specific orthopedic conditions.
The bone marrow aspirate concentrate option is considered a true cell-based therapy.
The procedure takes live cells from the patient’s body, typically from the back of the pelvis. The cells are processed in a centrifuge machine which separates the bone marrow aspirate from the cell layer. This cell layer contains a variety of cells including some that have the potential to modulate inflammation and differentiate into specific cell types. This separated material is then injected into the problem area.
Each procedure is done in the office under local anesthesia. All are ultrasound-guided to ensure injection accuracy. Treatments take between one and two hours.
If conventional treatments haven’t resolved your orthopedic woes, talk to your health care provider about the potential for an orthobiologic therapy solution.