Eleven top orthopedic clinics, including OrthoIndy, Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Missouri Orthopaedic Institute and The Hospital for Special Surgery, tested the use of amniotic fluid and tissue allograft in suspension for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.
11 Top Clinics Test Amniotic Knee Injection for OA
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#osteoarthritisSecondary#amnioticsuspensionallograft#organogenesisholdings
The product, brand named ReNu, is processed by Canton, Massachusetts-based Organogenesis Holdings, Inc.
The results of this company-sponsored study were presented by Jack Farr, M.D., medical director of the Cartilage Research Center of Indiana and an orthopedic surgeon at OrthoIndy at the recently concluded American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2019 Annual meeting.
The amniotic allograft injection used in the study was comprised of, according to Organogenesis marketing materials, cryopreserved, amniotic suspension allograft, derived from human amnion and amniotic fluid. The human amniotic tissues in ReNu contain cellular components, growth factors, and extracellular matrix, and anti-inflammatory cytokines.
Dr. Farr told OTW, “Patients with knee osteoarthritis who received amniotic suspension allograft reported statistically significant improvements in pain and function when compared to those treated with saline or hyaluronic acid at six months after their knee injection.”
In addition to OrthoIndy, investigators from the following clinics also participated in the study. American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago, OrthoIndy in Indianapolis, the Center for Clinical and Translational Science UK Chandler Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts, the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute in Columbia, New Mexico Orthopaedics in Albuquerque, New York University in New York City, Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, Ohio State University in Columbus, and Advanced Orthopedics in Richmond, Virginia.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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