Despite ACL surgeries being more readily available than ever before, torn knee ligaments are still one of the most dreaded injuries for athletes and other active people. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is responsible for stabilizing the knee. If it tears after a sudden wrenching movement, then stability and ease of motion are destroyed. Until recently, ACL surgeries seemed to be the only way for patients to escape the pain, stiffness, and stability loss that comes with an ACL injury.
Fortunately, stem cell treatment may now represent a viable way for some patients to repair torn knee ligaments while avoiding invasive ACL surgeries.
Alternative To ACL Injuries? How Stem Cells Can Help
In this article:
- Why Seek an Alternative to ACL Surgery?
- How Stem Cell Treatment Addresses an ACL Injury
- The Stem Cell Procedure for an ACL Tear
- Will Your ACL Injury Respond Well to Stem Cell Treatment?
Why Seek an Alternative to Surgery?
Both the immediate and long-term risks of an ACL reconstruction surgery lead some people to consider other options. Your doctor can give you a better sense of what specific health problems might heighten the risk of ACL surgeries. For the general population, bleeding during surgery is a danger. Also, during the recovery period, infection can set in. In fact, infection and blood loss are risks with any operation, including ACL surgeries.
Longer-term, some patients regret ACL surgery either because it didn’t work, or because it presented new problems. Weakness or stiffness of the joint can happen. In addition, the angle of the surgical graft compresses cartilage. That means that arthritis may set in several years later, because of this compressed cartilage.
Time constraints can also be a factor for people nervous about ACL surgery. Taking time away from school or work to prepare for, undergo, and recover from an ACL surgery is difficult for many people. In addition, it can take athletes up to a year of recovery and physical therapy before they return to their sport or activity.
In contrast, stem cell procedures are often completed in the course of one day, with patients able to return to the sport within eight to twelve weeks.
For any or all of these reasons, an alternative to surgery such as stem cell treatment is something more people are seeking. Again, whether you are a viable candidate for surgical alternatives may depend on the location and severity of your ACL injury, among other factors.
How Stem Cell Treatment Addresses an ACL Injury
When an ACL gets “torn,” that means the tissue of a major ligament in your knee has been partially or completely severed. Because ligaments are responsible for holding bones together, tears in ligament tissues can cause major pain. Your movement also becomes restricted. The ACL is one of only four ligaments connecting the shin and thigh bones. It is also responsible for keeping you stable when you turn or stop suddenly.
Stem cell injections offer an alternative to ACL surgeries by helping the ligament tissue repair itself at the site of the original tear. Stems cells have a unique ability to replicate themselves, as well as to differentiate. “Differentiate” means that the stem cells can turn themselves into the type of cell present in the injured body part, even if the stem cells come from another part of the body. Doctors take the sample from any place with a high stem cell count.
In the case of a stem cell injection to address an ACL injury, the stem cells begin to multiply after the injection. The new stem cells differentiate into ligament tissue. This rapid cell turnover, in which they differentiate as the ligament tissue cells, allows the ligament tear to “knit” together. The process is similar to when broken bones heal when put into a cast.
The Stem Cell Procedure for an ACL Tear
Patients opting for stem cell treatment as an alternative to ACL surgery will arrive at the clinic and have their stem cells harvested. Medical professionals draw blood from the arm for platelets coupled with a stem cell extraction via needle from an area rich in stem cells. The extraction point could be the hip or abdomen, where a high amount of adipose tissue can be found. Alternatively, stem cells could be extracted from your bone marrow or other readily available source.
While you rest after this painless procedure, technicians process the stem cells with platelets in your blood. Once completed, you’ll be given an ultrasound for the doctor to determine where your ACL tear is exactly. Next, you’ll be injected with the stem cell treatment at the area of the tear. Additional injections during this procedure deliver the stem cells to adjacent areas, to allow repair from inside and outside the tear.
Depending on the clinic you visit, you may receive additional injections a few weeks after the first visit. This is so reserved amounts of your stem cells and platelets have a chance to multiply in the lab. Doctors then inject these cells at the site of your ACL tear.
No matter what schedule the stem cell facility follows, the general goal is the same. The extracted and re-injected stem cells will then multiply themselves, allowing for your ACL tear to heal naturally without the need for painful ACL surgery.
Will Your ACL Injury Respond Well to Stem Cell Treatment?
Most, but not all, ACL patients are ideal candidates for stem cell treatment. The nature of the injury determines how successful the injection therapy will be.
The ACL is constructed in such a way that the ligament has an outer sheath. Most people who injure their ACL experience a tear with a still intact outer sheath. That means the ligament as a whole did not get shifted out of place. If so, stem cell injections have a strong chance of repairing the tear. On the other hand, a significantly damaged outer sheath may need surgical intervention.
Fortunately, ACL injuries commonly happen in such a way as to leave the outer sheath undamaged or only minimally torn. Because of this, many ACL patients can get clearance for stem cell therapy.
Is stem cell treatment for your torn knee ligament a better option than getting one or two ACL surgeries? That’s something only you and your doctor can decide. If your physician isn’t familiar with stem cell treatment as a surgery alternative, consider consulting a specialist who is. Attempting to put off any kind of treatment after an ACL injury will only make the condition worse.
Consequences of ignoring the torn ligament range from osteoarthritis to additional injuries, as the rest of your body tries to compensate for the weakened knee. Whatever your treatment plan, you will benefit from starting the healing process as soon as possible.
Stem Cell Treatments for ACL Tears
If you are seeking stem cell treatment for an ACL tear, GIOSTAR can help you to access medical guidance and advice. In alignment with what we believe, GIOSTAR’s goal is to offer cutting-edge, extensively researched stem cell therapy options designed to improve a patient’s quality of life.
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