The Role of Activity Level in Orthopedics: An Important Prognostic and Outcome Variable
Every year, the members of the Regenexx network gather in Colorado to review their respective experiences in Regenerative Medicine, exchange ideas, and explore new possibilities for improving the various interventions. As one of the few orthopedic surgeons involved in the Regenexx network or in the entire scope of Regenerative Medicine for that matter, I feel my role is to apply the same standard of practice to Cellular Orthopedics that I followed as the head of a joint replacement program at a major medical center over a 39-year career. To that end, I will be presenting the outcome data of my Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate interventions in knee arthritis for which I have greater than one year of follow-up.
In addition to the customary outcomes data points I historically applied for monitoring the outcomes of a Total Knee Replacement including pain scores, subjective psychological and physical well-being responses, Range of Motion and Mechanical Axis measurements, 100 point knee surveys and Knee Society Scores; I will include, for the first time, the Activity Level changes following a Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate knee intervention and compare the results to those following Total Knee Replacements.
A patient’s activity level is increasingly being recognized as an important factor in establishing the success of a procedure be it surgical or as in the case of Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate, non surgical. We now have validated reliable activity measurement tools for the knee, hip, shoulder and ankle. The tool allows me to document whether the stem cell procedure restored function. Activity level is a powerful prognostic factor for outcomes in orthopedic procedures. It is a quantitative measure of how much, rather than how well, a patient performs certain tasks; thus it is distinct from symptoms or functional disability.
My presentation on August 7, will document the significant increase in percentage participation at a Very Active activity level one year after the stem cell intervention when contrasted to the patient cohort prior to treatment. The same holds at the Active category, at the Moderate level as well, and even more so at the Mild activity level. The same cannot be said when I compared the data with those who underwent knee replacements. The message, before you undergo a knee replacement, explore the new world of Cellular Orthopedics.
Tags: arthritis, Bone Marrow Concentrate, Clinical Trial. Mitchell B. Sheinkop, Concentrated Stem Cell Plasma, Regenerative, Regenexx, stem cells