Efficacy of Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate Compared With Platelet Rich Plasma for the Treatment of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial

While PRP shows promise in helping restore function to these patients, there are still concerns with PRP's long term outcomes. Another option that has become more popular for physicians treating this debilitation condition is bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMA), which use's undifferentiated cells found in the bone marrow to promote healing and tissue regeneration. These cells have the ability to replicate into a multiple different tissue types. With BMA, the marrow is concentrated provide better healing of the damaged tissue and aid in growth and repair. The full benefits of BMA are still unknown, but studies have shown the treatment can reduce swelling, relieve pain, and improve healing in articular cartilage and bone grafts.

Autologous BMA has shown promising clinical potential as a therapeutic agent in regenerative medicine, including the treatment of osteoarthritis and cartilage defects, and the clinical efficacy platelet rich plasma has been documented to alleviate symptoms related to knee osteoarthritis. However, randomized, prospective comparison of the two techniques has not been reported in the literature and long term follow-up for both treatments is limited, and especially limited in the use of BMA for osteoarthritis treatment.