Columbia-based University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers studied bone marrow aspirate concentrate's impact on knee joint transplant outcomes.
The study involved a comparison of 17 biologic knee joint grafts implanted without BMC to 29 grafts implanted with BMC. X-ray follow-up occurred at six weeks, three months and six months.
James Cook, DVM, PhD, the William and Kathryn Allen Distinguished Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery at MU School of Medicine, led the research. The American Journal of Sports Medicine published the study.
Here are five things to know:
1. Researchers found the BMC group saw 43 percent bone integration in six weeks, compared to only 25 percent in the non-BMC group.
2. At three months, the grafts pretreated with BMC achieved 67 percent bone integration compared to 50 percent in the non-BMC group.
3. The BMC grafts were more than 84 percent fully integrated at six months, compared to 74 percent of the non-BMC grafts.
4. Dr. Cook and his team concluded their study supports that grafts pretreated with BMC are correlated to earlier and better bone integration.
5. The team plans to conduct a future study with a larger patient population as well as analyze outcomes for hips, shoulders and ankles.