Editorial Commentary: Microfragmented Adipose Tissue May Provide an Effective Injection Treatment Modality for Arthritic Knee Pain With 1-Year Improvement in Pain and Function

Injectable treatments for arthritic knee pain continue to evolve. This is significant, considering that osteoarthritis is the most common orthopaedic pathology in adult patients. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 16.9% of all adults are affected, and by age 65 years, almost one-half of the population will experience pain related to cartilage degradation. Steroid injections show only short-term improvements. Both viscosupplementation using hyaluronates and platelet-rich plasma injection show inconsistent long-term results. Recently microfragmented adipose tissue injections in the office setting have been shown to provide symptomatic improvement at 6 and 12 months in patients with knee pain from degenerative joint disease. Additional studies are needed to confirm the reproducibility of this finding. Most of all, study of injections for knee arthritis must include a placebo control (saline injection) to truly demonstrate efficacy.