What recovery was observed after adding bone marrow aspirate to horizontal or radial meniscal repair?

Healing on three-month MRI was 60%. Pain and function scores improved at two years compared with baseline.

Healing on three-month MRI was 60% in 30 patients. Without a control group, the added effect of bone marrow aspirate cannot be isolated. MRI findings and clinical-score improvement are separate outcomes.
Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery (2024). DOI: 10.4055/cios23213 · Original explanatory chart based on reported data
Evidence & Original Source Image use terms

The research question

Participants and Methods

Patients undergoing arthroscopic meniscal repair with iliac-crest bone marrow aspirate were reviewed retrospectively. Three-month MRI and two-year clinical scores were assessed. This clinical study used CONNEVO measurement software. There were 30 patients, mean age 46.8 years and mean follow-up 25.1 months: 22 horizontal and eight radial tears.

Main Findings

Healing on three-month MRI was 60%. Pain and function scores improved at two years compared with baseline. MRI healing was not significantly correlated with clinical-score changes. Two retears were treated conservatively.

Implications for clinical and surgical practice

The study distinguishes structural healing after repair from patients' pain and function. Rehabilitation adherence and imaging timing also matter. Du Hyun Ro was not a coauthor.

Limitations

This was a 30-patient study without controls. It cannot establish that bone marrow aspirate is better than repair alone. Repair augmented with bone marrow aspirate must not be presented as evidence for routine intra-articular BMAC injections.

Let's put it briefly.

Which clinical question does this address?

The study distinguishes structural healing after repair from patients' pain and function. Rehabilitation adherence and imaging timing also matter. Du Hyun Ro was not a coauthor.

Keywords

Bone marrow cell
Bone marrow aspirate
Meniscus
Arthroscopy
meniscus
repair
bone marrow aspirate

Abstract · Original text

Byung Sun Choi, Juneseok Won, Hyuk-Soo Han. Augmentation with Bone Marrow Aspirate Harvested from the Iliac Crest for Horizontal or Radial Meniscal Tears Yields Favorable Healing Rates in Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinical Outcomes. Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery. 2024. doi:10.4055/cios23213.

Excerpt from the original abstract

As the importance of meniscus in joint function becomes more apparent, there is a growing interest in meniscus repair techniques.…

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The original paper.

Augmentation with Bone Marrow Aspirate Harvested from the Iliac Crest for Horizontal or Radial Meniscal Tears Yields Favorable Healing Rates in Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinical Outcomes

Byung Sun Choi, Juneseok Won, Hyuk-Soo Han
Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery · 2024

DOI · 10.4055/cios23213 PubMed Based data

Academic Discussion

Results explained with study numbers