Facet joint syndrome is a common disabling condition. Degeneration of the motion segment leads to a loss of height of the segment resulting in an athrosis of the facet joint. The degenerative changes in the joint result finally in a chronic inflammatory process. Injection of corticosteroids and oral pain medication are of little value in the long-term treatment. Advances in regenerative medicine revealed immune-modulatory properties of stem cells.
In a 58 year-old male, suffering from facet joint syndrome and spinal canal stenosis, adipose derived stem cells were injected into the facet joint under fluoroscopic guidance.
The patient remained pain free over a period of at least 6 months.
Injection of adipose derived stem cells might be a promising novel therapy for facet joint syndrome.
Introduction
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This process involves the immune system by initiating localized inflammatory responses. Such a reaction is followed by synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines and metalloproteinases.10 Because of the inflammatory nature of the syndrome, local injections of glucocorticoids into the affected joint have become a common treatment option. However the results of various studies suggest that these injections have a limited value in the long-term treatment of patients suffering from chronic low back pain.
Joint pain, particularly in the knees and shoulders as well as back pain constitute the large majority of patients who present to their doctor's office with a complaint of pain. Many of these patients proceed to have surgery, all too often with less than optimal outcomes. Many of these patients still have the same pain
To start, stem cells have been proven effective in human application. In the article, “Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation” Mats Brittberg et al. inform orthopedists of the long-term success of stem cell treatments on full thickness cartilage damage in the knee after interviewing patients
CA MTUS supports facet injections for non-radicular facet mediated pain. In addition, ODG criteria for facet injections include documentation of low-back pain that is non-radicular, failure of conservative treatment (including home exercise, PT, and NSAIDs) prior to the procedure for at least 4-6 weeks, no more than 2 joint levels to be injected in one session, and evidence of a formal plan of additional evidence-based activity and exercise in addition to facet joint therapy. This is an appeal to a previously denied request on 02/09/16. The latest note and the appeal letter stated that the reviewing doctor denied the joint injections because there was no documentation of ruling out radiculopathy. The bottom line is that this patient has MRI scan evidence of both disc pathology and facet arthropathy. It was noted that the patient has been symptomatic since 2005. He has continued back pain with a recent 10/12/15 date of
In a study done by Emadedin et al. in 2012, they injected MSC from each respective patients bone marrow, into six female volunteers with evidence of knee OA that was severe enough to require joint replacement surgery. The authors described a detailed, meticulous procedure in how they obtained the MSC from the patient’s bone marrow, and made it into the cells they needed for the procedure. They injected the patient’s affected knee joints with the stem cells and followed up with them in one year. At the one year mark, Emadedin et al. (2012) found that overall, the study was successful in decreasing pain and increasing the patients walking distance for the first 6 months. However, they discovered that 3 of the
Stem cells are being used more and more to help patients recover from severe injuries that in the past left them with sensory deficits and open to other medical problems. Stem Cell Moore helps patients who suffer from painful joint and back pain regain movement and enjoy a pain-free life. Doctors performing these procedures are a part of a network of over 400 physicians worldwide supply plasma
In Brazil 2009, there was an 18 year old boy that had half of his jaw and teeth removed because of a tumor. Scientists took some of his bone marrow and extracted the adult stem cells from it and formed an osteoblast, which is a bone forming cell. Six months after the osteoblast was injected, it started forming new bone material which filled the gaps (NIH Stem Cells). Stem cells could be a genius way to treat many diseases and disorders and it should be supported by everyone.
It is too early to have a direct answer at the moment since this is a new idea but there are several scientists conducting research with these mesenchymal stem cells, and are even attempting to improve on how they are applied. In a study by the Bio Med Research International, they focused on hosting these stem cells on RKKP glass coated titanium (Ledda). They chose titanium specifically due to how often titanium is used for implants and they aim to find a way to transfer the implant while fixing any damaged tissue in the process. In previous attempts to utilize stem cells, the cells themselves are often put into a buffer solution and then injected (Ledda). In this study, however, they used a different approach, “due to the limited survival of stem cells suspended in a buffer, the engraftment rate may be improved by using a supporting matrix such as a scaffold or a hydrogel” (as cited in
While embryonic stem cells can restore and repair tissue, there also can be a risk when inducing them into
Pharmacological treatments include analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), opioids hyaluronic acid, corticosteroid injections (Citiation Garcia) or disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOADs) such as sodium pentosan polysulfate. Kumagai et al researched the efficacy of subcutaneous injections with sodium pentosan polysulfate on the improvement of cartilage while Garcia-Padilla et al researched the efficacy of intra-articular injections of bicarbonate and calcium gluconate. For treatments to be clinically significant they must alleviate the symptoms; therefore, the treatment should decrease the patient?s level of pain and/or joint stiffness from moderate to mild while resting or being active. The normal range of motion of the knee is 0 to 130 degrees for flexion and 120 to 0 degrees for extension(CITATION Mercks); therefore, within the affected joint the range of motion should increase by 10 degrees. However, the range of motion will be affected by the amount of cartilage lost and scar tissue in the knee joint; therefore, a full recovery in the range of motion should not be
While embryonic stem cells can restore and repair tissue, there also can be a risk when inducing them into
Non-pharmaceutical treatments involve educating the patients about their disease condition and help them manage pain by prescribing muscle strengthening and stretching exercises (54). As losing weight can help affected individuals reduce the stress on their weight-bearing joints, they are advised on how to improve their standard of living to lead healthy and active life (53,54). Although non-pharmaceutical approaches are affective in the long run, they do not help alleviate pain immediately and people with OA have restricted mobility. The most used medications for OA are the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) which include aspirin, ibuprofen, etc. and pain relieving analgesics like acetaminophen (4). Non-invasive surgical options, such as intra-articular injections with corticosteroids, hyluronic acid (HA), have been used to improve joint lubrication. Hyaluronic acid (HA) injections could be beneficial for both knee and hip OA, however, it has been found that HA efficacy is very low(3). Corticosteroids are anti-inflammatory drugs that are used to alleviate pain (1). All of these drugs have pain-relieving effects, however, the core issue of the constant degeneration of the articular cartilage remains unmodified. In addition, constant
On the grounds that Glucosamine occurs naturally in human tissues, it makes it a doable alternative to the bogus medications which were marketed by using the world of medication for decades. Like glucosamine, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines these medicinal drugs, referred to as NSAIDs, relieve the affliction associated with arthritis and joint anguish. However, the every has its own targeted procedure of
The addition of MSCs improved ligament tissue formation and increased ultimate failure load when compared with control animals [8]. Other studies have used biosynthetic scaffolds alongside MSCs to improve ACL repair.” (Lee et al. 2016) Lee et al use logos with the use of statistics as well as reference to other credible research in order to convey what stem cells are and their uses in the treatment of ligament injuries.
The stem cell injection is not only beneficial for growing and healing bone but also helps to repair fractured bone without severe pain. The synovial fluid in synovial joints around the ligaments, meniscus, and other tissue helps lubricating joints and helps to make a solid gel. This keeps joints to repair and tear damage tissue. It also keeps the chemical environment within tissue so the joints can repair in right direction-what we call “anabolic” state. But sometimes things may not happen how we think what if the environment shifts and turned out toxic and unable to grow stem cells. If the catabolic- meaning breakdown of tissue over time can cause a severe joint problem.
As stated earlier in this paper, there has always been a lot of controversy surrounding stem cell research and the ethically rights researchers have obtaining it, let alone experimenting with it. Therefore, it is no surprise that before RCT with stem cells on humans were approved and accepted, trials were done on mice and rats. While it is not ideal and in no way similar to the effects on humans, experiments done during this phase were useful in viewing how stem cells actually alter and impact osteoarthritic joints. In an experiment done by Huurne et al. in 2012, they explored the effects that stem cells had on the actual synovial lining thickness in the joint spaces of mice with OA. In their study, Huurne et al. introduced