Fat-Derived Stem Cells Show Promise for Early Knee Arthritis

Study Tests Combined Approach: Arthroscopy Plus Fat Tissue Injection

Researchers in Italy wanted to know if combining two treatments could help people with early knee osteoarthritis. The first treatment was arthroscopic debridement—a minimally invasive procedure to clean up damaged tissue inside the knee. The second was an injection of stem cells harvested from the patient's own fat tissue, processed using Lipogems® technology. This study followed 52 patients for an average of about 15 months to measure pain relief and improved knee function.

Patients See Significant Pain Reduction After Treatment

Before treatment, patients reported an average pain score of 8.5 out of 10. At their final follow-up visit, pain dropped to an average of 5.1—a meaningful improvement. The researchers used the VAS pain scale, a standard tool where zero means no pain and ten means the worst pain imaginable. This roughly 40 percent reduction in pain helped many patients return to daily activities with greater comfort.

Knee Function Scores Nearly Double in Some Measures

The study measured knee health using the International Knee Society (IKS) scoring system. This tool evaluates both the physical condition of the knee and how well patients can perform everyday tasks.

• Knee score improved from an average of 37 points before surgery to 63 points afterward

• Function score rose from 57 points to 83 points on average

• Both improvements were statistically significant, meaning they were unlikely due to chance

These gains suggest that the treatment helped patients move more easily and experience less stiffness in their daily lives.

Patients With Higher Pain Levels Respond Best to Treatment

One of the most interesting findings was that patients who started with more severe pain saw the greatest benefits. Those with pre-treatment pain scores above eight experienced larger improvements in both pain relief and function compared to patients with lower initial pain scores. This suggests the treatment may work especially well for people whose early arthritis is causing substantial discomfort, even if X-rays show only mild joint damage.

Minimally Invasive Procedure Uses Your Own Tissue

The treatment uses autologous tissue—meaning your own fat cells, not donor material. Surgeons harvested a small amount of fat from the abdomen using a gentle liposuction technique. This tissue was then processed through the Lipogems® system, which breaks down the fat into tiny fragments while preserving the regenerative cells inside. About 10 to 15 milliliters of this processed tissue was injected directly into the knee joint.

The entire procedure—arthroscopy and fat tissue injection—was completed in a single surgical session. This approach avoids the complexity and cost of growing cells in a laboratory, which some other stem cell treatments require.

What This Means for Your Treatment Decision

This study provides encouraging early evidence that fat-derived stem cell therapy combined with arthroscopic cleanup may help people with early knee osteoarthritis. The treatment appeared safe, used the patient's own tissue, and produced meaningful improvements in pain and function over more than a year of follow-up.

However, this was a preliminary study without a comparison group receiving a different treatment. Larger studies with longer follow-up periods will help confirm these findings. If you have early knee osteoarthritis and other treatments have not provided adequate relief, this research suggests that regenerative approaches using your own adipose tissue may be worth discussing with your doctor.

Source: Schiavone Panni et al., International Orthopaedics, 2018.