Microfracture plus stem cells for multiple, large cartilage lesions

[Faklanman]

I just had microfracture plus my own stem cells for my entire trochlea, three spots on my patella, and two spots on my femoral condoyles in Kuala Lumpur.  Go to www.KLSMC.com.  Dr. Saw has done it in over 300 patients, is getting type two collagen, and can treat bone on bone indications.  Read the paper on the website.   three centers in the US are starting this up now.   This has many advantages vs ACI and microfracture alone, including the ability to actually create joint space and handling multiple lesions.   All done through a scope.

so how do you fee so many months later ? this forum is fascinating there seem to be so many options for people with bad knees today 

[badkneewilltravel]

So far it is progressing quite well.  On MRI, my condyles and patella have healed, and the trochlea is healing.  I have no pain when walking and am swimming and stationary biking currently.  I am happy I did it.

[bananzaboy]

Great news bad knee! Having no pain must be a great relief. As far as I'm aware healing after stem cell treatment can take up to 2 years to be fully complete. You must be only 9-10 months into that? Therefore you could continue to improve for another while.

If I had the money I'd be gone to get this done in the morning. However I'm just having to buy my time for the mo.

Please keep us updated. Thanks!

[SW71]

Hi Badknee,

I am travelling to Asia from Australia for a holiday and will take a quick break from my holiday and travel to Malaysia for a day to see Dr Saw on 16th April. I guess I'm looking for a bit of advice - with the luxury of hindsight, are there any questions that you wished you asked Dr Saw before the procedure but didn't. I'm planning on asking him the standard questions of what are the risks, what chances of success, what position will I be in if it fails, what alternatives do I have, how long is the recovery etc, but since I don't get the chance to see Dr Saw easily I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to ask him the right questions. Any advice is greatly appreciated. BTW thanks for posting here, if it wasn't for this website and your post I doubt I ever would have found out about this procedure. Hope your recovery is progressing well.

Thanks

SW

[garethday]

Hello,
 
  I am a 33 year old firefighter who has recently been diagnosed with early onset osteoaryhritis in my knee.  I am terrified for my career.  I was wondering if you would be wiling to tell me more about your condition, what you have had done and how it is recovering?
 
Many thanks,
 
Gareth Day

[garethday]

interested to hear more about your results with dr.Saw

[Affliction79]

Does anyone know if this procedure will be offered in Canada in the future?

[Mayou]

Hi, I stumbled upon this forum while googling some other knee thing. I am currently a patient at KLSMC and have undergone kneesurgery with Dr Saw a month ago. (chondroplasty with multiple drillings and
microfractures to lateral tibial plateau and lateral femoral condyle and needling of the lateral meniscus - amongst other things). I have just had my 4th stemcell injection yesterday, 4 down, 4 to go...  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Badkneewilltravel, how are you doing at the moment? Feel any significant improvement?

[WestPoint]

Hello Mayou,

You mentioned needling of the meniscus.

What does he do to fix meniscus tears?

Any details in this treatment would be appreciated.

[Mayou]

The needling of the meniscus has been done to form new cartilage by means of stemcells. I have a discoid. damaged meniscus and hopefully the stemcells will fix that too. I also had a tear, which Dr Saw sutured up and he removed a cyst.

SW71 when you come to KLSMC on the 16th, why don't you come to the physioward for a chat. I'll be there from 9.00 to 13.00 (every day for 5 weeks) doing my excersises and cpm. pm me.

[WestPoint]

Thank you, Mayou.

Hope things are improving. Did you have any type of articular cartilage damage, too?

When you say needling, do you mean a repeated poking of the meniscus while injecting stem cells at the same time?

What type of stem cell count is Dr Saw able to achieve?

Does he use fat or bone marrow derived cells, and does he culture them over a period of time? If so, for how many weeks?

[fastglycolytic]

Hey Westpoint

Check out this site, http://www.klsmc.com/in-the-news/insights/85-articular-cartilage-regeneration-with-stem-cells.html, has lots of info on Dr. Saw and his techniques.

Bryan

[WestPoint]

Amazing stuff.

Thanks, Bryan...

[Mayou]

Hi WestPoint,

The article pretty much explains it all.

To answer your questions, he uses bone marrow derived stemcelles that he harvests via a vein in your hip. About 20-40 vials, depending on wether you need 1 or 2 knees done. My stemcell count was 33. But that depends per patient. A friend of mine - also a patient - had a stemcell count of 22. The lower the count, the more time you spend harvesting.
The first stemcell injection is immediately after the harvesting, so he doens't culture them. The vials you don't need immediatly are placed in storage. I opted for 40 vials and have ad 20 vials put in storage, in case i'll need them in the future.

Needling the meniscus means that he made micro holes in my meniscus for the stemcells to start growing new, healthy, cartilage. It is done during the operaton. The first stemcell injection is a week later.

Yes I had severe articular cartilage damage on both tibia and femur and a 3 cm hole on the tibial plateau. Hopefully stemcells are growing there now... Too soon to tell since it's only been a month ago and I'm still in the middle of recovering. Did my first steps on a treadmill  yesterday and that felt good.

[fastglycolytic]

Hi Mayou

I have been researching KLSM and Dr. Saw for awhile now. His approach seems to be the best. I know some surgeons in the US (where I live) are starting to perform his technique. Do you live in Asia? Can Dr. Saw do both knees at one time?

Bryan