Autologous Stem Cells in Achilles Tendinopathy

Tendon disorders compromise pain free activity and often progress to chronic pain with a major impact on quality of life. More than 85,000 patients each year see their general practitioner (GP) with Achilles Tendinopathy (AT) which affects the lower leg in young and middle aged adults. The main treatment is physiotherapy, although surgery is eventually considered in 25-45%of patients, an intervention that requires several months of immobilisation and has unpredictable outcomes.

Other treatments include, shockwave therapy, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) (a blood injection of platelet rich plasma) and steroid injections, but other than physiotherapy non have been shown to be better than placebo. There is a need for improved nonsurgical treatments. There is an established treatment in horses that involves injection of the horses own stem cells into the tendon, which has been shown to be effective but has never been used in man. We wish to translate the technology to humans and propose a pilot phase II trial to establish the safety of stem cells implanted in diseased human tendon. We aim to study 10 patients with chronic mid substance achilles tendinopathy to assess safety as our primary outcome measure. In addition we capture clinical outcomes scores and ultrasound appearances. Other than the stem cell injection, all assessments will be non invasive. Participants will be otherwise healthy adults, aged 18-70 and recruited from routine outpatient clinics at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, presenting with a painful heel, diagnosed by a specialist as Achilles tendinopathy, and having already undergone a minimum of 6 months of physiotherapy. Each participant will have 6 months follow up. This study will help inform a larger clinical trial in the future for which a further ethics application will be made.