Cell-Based Therapy in Articular Cartilage Lesions of the Knee
Purpose
The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the effectiveness of cell-based therapy for articular cartilage defects of the knee.
Methods
We performed a literature search in Medline (1994 to 2009) regarding cell-based therapies for chondral lesions.
Results
We identified 10 Level I or II randomized controlled trials and 3 Level II prospective comparative studies. Although many of these studies had substantial flaws, which could introduce bias, we overall found no difference between the cell-based studies and other interventions. In addition, we identified 26 Level III and IV studies of cell-based therapy.
Conclusions
There is insufficient evidence from the studies included in this review to say whether cell-based therapy is superior to other treatment strategies in articular cartilage lesions of the knee.
aDepartment of Orthopaedics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
bOrthopaedic Center, Ulleval University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Norimasa Nakamura, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Orthopaedics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan
ABSTRACT