SynthesisKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2023
Mesenchymal stem cell implantation provides short-term clinical improvement and satisfactory cartilage restoration in patients with knee osteoarthritis but the evidence is limited: a systematic review performed by the early-osteoarthritis group of ESSKA-European knee associates section.
Synthesis in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cell-based therapies have disease-modifying effects on osteoarthritis in animal models: A systematic review by the ESSKA Orthobiologic Initiative. Part 3: Umbilical cord, placenta, and other sources for cell-based injectable therapies.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Evaluating the efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells for diabetic neuropathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical studies.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2024Pooled it
- Autologous collagen-induced chondrogenesis versus mesenchymal stem cell therapy combined with high tibial osteotomy for medial knee osteoarthritis: a retrospective study.Stem cell research & therapy · 2026Article
- Chondrogenic Differentiation of Stem Cells for Cartilage Regeneration: Advances and Future Perspectives.Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine · 2026Review
- Intelligent treatment strategies for knee cartilage injury repair.Frontiers in surgery · 2026Review
- [Conservative treatment of patellofemoral cartilage lesions and patellofemoral osteoarthritis].Orthopadie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Treatment of osteoarthritic knee with high tibial osteotomy and allogeneic human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells combined with hyaluronate hydrogel composite.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Observational
- Cathepsin K Inhibitors as Potential Drugs for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy for osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical outcomes and functional recovery.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Single intra-articular injection of human synovial membrane MSC from grade IV knee osteoarthritis patient improve cartilage repair in OA rat model.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2024Article
- Glycosphingolipids in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage-Regeneration Therapy: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Prospects Based on a Narrative Review of the Literature.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Regulation of Oxygen Tension as a Strategy to Control Chondrocytic Phenotype for Cartilage Tissue Engineering and Regeneration.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 7 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeImplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is a potential cell-based modality for cartilage repair. Currently, its clinical use largely surrounds focal cartilage defect repair and intra-articular injections in knee osteoarthritis. The MSCs' implantation efficacy as a treatment option for osteoarthritis remains contentious. This systematic review aims to evaluate studies that focused on MSCs implantation in patients with knee OA to provide a summary of this treatment option outcomes.
methodsA systematic search was performed in PubMed (Medline), Scopus, Cinahl, and the Cochrane Library. Original studies investigating outcomes of MSCs implantations in patients with knee OA were included. Data on clinical outcomes using subjective scores, radiological outcomes, and second-look arthroscopy gradings were extracted.
resultsNine studies were included in this review. In all included studies, clinical outcome scores revealed significantly improved functionality and better postoperative pain scores at 2-3 years follow-up. Improved cartilage volume and quality at the lesion site was observed in five studies that included a postoperative magnetic resonance imaging assessment and studies that performed second-look arthroscopy. No major complications or tumorigenesis occurred. Outcomes were consistent in both single MSCs implantation and concurrent HTO with MSCs implantation in cases with excessive varus deformity.
conclusionAccording to the available literature, MSCs implantation in patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis is safe and provides short-term clinical improvement and satisfactory cartilage restoration, either as a standalone procedure or combined with HTO in cases with axial deformity. However, the evidence is limited due to the high heterogeneity among studies and the insufficient number of studies including a control group and mid-term outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.