• Lei Zhao, Alan D Kaye, and Alaa Abd-Elsayed.
• Department of Orthopedics, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated with Shandong University, China.
• Pain Physician. 2018 May 1; 21 (3): 229-242.

BackgroundKnee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a very challenging condition to treat and can be resistant to medications, procedures, and even surgery. Surgery may not be an option for some patients due to obesity or comorbidities. Regenerative medicine utilizing stem cells, platelet rich plasma (PRP), amniotic fluid, and cytokine modulation is very promising in the treatment of KOA.ObjectiveThis is a review article to evaluate the current evidence about regenerative medicine therapies in the treatment of KOA.Study DesignA review article.SettingA review of literature.MethodsAn online search of PubMed and Cochrane Library databases between January 2006 and December 2016 was performed to search related articles using the keywords of "treatment, stem cell, knee osteoarthritis," limited to the English language. The articles were then screened to make sure only articles fitting our inclusion criteria were included.ResultsOur search obtained a total of 268 articles, but only 18 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the current study.LimitationsThere is still limited evidence in literature about the efficacy of regenerative medicine in treating KOA. More large clinical trials are needed to confirm the evidence.ConclusionThe present investigation demonstrates that regenerative medicine technologies provide good evidence in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, but greater in-depth study to explore a more ideal way to overcome present difficulties, including standardization of sources of cells, is warranted.Key WordsKnee osteoarthritis, stem cell, treatment, platelet rich plasma, amniotic fluid, articular cartilage defect.

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