A Prospective Randomized Comparative Clinical Trial Evaluating the Effects of Autologous Microfractured Adipose Tissue (α MAT) Versus Steroid Injection in Knee Osteoarthritis (STα MAT-knee Study)

Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative condition of the knee. Its current management is symptomatic. These patients might eventually need total knee arthroplasty (TKA). With the developments in regenerative medicine, stem cell has been suggested as means to regenerate the knee cartilage tissue which otherwise has little regenerative ability. Initially, stem cells were obtained from bone marrow cells; however, now they can also be obtained from adipose tissue through liposuction. With developments of less invasive liposuction techniques, adipose tissue has been identified as means for autologous mesenchymal stem cells (aMAT). There are two ways of obtaining aMAT form adipose tissue: enzymatic, which has controversies related to Good Manufacturing Practice and low yield, and non-enzymatic method which was recently further developed to a closed-system and directly ready-to-use aMAT producing Lipogems®. Lipogems® is FDA-approved for several applications including orthopedic use. A couple of case reports and cohort studies showed its potential use in knee chondropathy. Until now, no clinical trials compared its effect to the knee OA standard of care which is the intra-articular corticosteroid injection. Here, the investigators will study the comparative efficacy of corticosteroid versus Lipogems® in patients with knee OA.

This randomized clinical trial will include 48 patients with symptomatic knee OA ≥ 45 years old with no contraindication of corticosteroid and/or Lipogems® use. These patients will be divided equally into two groups: group S who will receive intra-articular corticosteroid knee injection and group L whose aMAT will be harvested using Lipogems® and be injected intra-articularly. The knee pain, clinical parameters, and patient-related outcome measures (knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score and Lipogems® Questionnaire-knee) will be assessed at baseline, 2-week, 6-week, 3-month, and 6-month. Also, knee MRI will be done at baseline and 6-months to visualize any changes (MRI Osteoarthritis knee score). These outcomes will be evaluated over the 6-month period and the difference between baseline and follow-up will be compared between the two groups.

This study aims to show the comparative efficacy of Lipogems® as compared to corticosteroid in knee OA patients and to demonstrate its cartilage regeneration potential, which will ultimately deter surgery.