2025 ISAKOS Biennial Congress ePoster
Comparative Clinical Outcomes of Intra-Articular Stromal Vascular Fraction and Mesenchymal Stem Cell Injections Versus Various Control Treatments in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Joo Hyung Han, MD KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
Min Jung, MD, PhD, Seoul KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
Kwangho Chung, MD, Seoul KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
Hyun-Soo Moon, MD, PhD, Seoul KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
Se-Han Jung, MD, Seoul KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
Junwoo Byun, MD, Seoul KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
Sung-Hwan Kim, MD, PhD, Seoul KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Seoul, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
FDA Status Not Applicable
Summary
A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that intra-articular stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell (ASC) injections improve pain and function in knee osteoarthritis compared to saline or hyaluronic acid, but SVF is less effective than corticosteroids initially, and liposuction-related complications limit their clinical utility.
ePosters will be available shortly before Congress
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of intra-articular stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell (ASC) injections in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) through a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.
Methods
PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were systematically searched to identify level I studies that compared the clinical efficacy of SVF or ASC with that of other non-operative treatments. Clinical scores measured 3, 6 and 12 months post-injection were standardized to pain and functional scales for meta-analysis based on minimal clinically important differences. Follow-up MRI findings and safety-related data were also investigated.
Results
Nine studies involving 671 patients were included. SVF demonstrated superior pain and function score improvements compared to saline or hyaluronic acid (HA) at 3, 6, and 12 months post-injection. However, SVF was inferior to corticosteroid at 3 months, showed no difference at 6 months, and was comparable or slightly superior at 12 months. ASC consistently showed better pain and function score improvements compared to saline and conservative treatment at all time points, with no significant differences observed compared to HA. High heterogeneity was noted in SVF function score results, requiring cautious interpretation. No serious adverse events related to SVF or ASC were reported, although complications associated with liposuction were observed.
Conclusions
SVF showed consistent superiority in pain and function scores compared to HA and saline but not corticosteroids. ASC improved pain and function scores compared to saline and conservative treatment but was not superior to HA. While SVF and ASC significantly improved clinical scores, the potential complications from liposuction limit their ability to replace existing minimally invasive treatments for knee OA.