The Effectiveness of Autologous Conditioned Serum in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Clinical Scenario:Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating degenerative disease affecting an estimated 27 million Americans. A systematic review found that patients with a previous history of traumatic knee injury are at increased risk of developing knee OA, regardless of specific injury. It is vital for the maintenance of quality of life for individuals affected with OA that the treatment options available be able to reduce symptoms and restore quality of living. The pain-relief benefits of traditional injection treatments are small to moderate and have a limited duration. It was found that at 2 wk postinjection that corticosteroids were more effective than hyaluronic acid (HA) injections. Autologous conditioned serum (ACS) injection is a novel treatment that has shown favorable results. However, many clinicians continue to use HA injections for reduction of symptoms in patients with osteoarthritis when the use of ACS may be more beneficial.Focused Clinical Question:For patients with knee OA, is an ACS injection more efficient at producing a reduction in symptoms than HA or a saline injection?