Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc.
By Keynote ContributorDr. Pamela Mehta, M.D.Orthopedic Surgeon and Founder of Resilience
Orthopedics
Challenges in conventional orthopedic treatments
You never know when you might need to see an orthopedic surgeon. From cradle to casket, accidents and injuries are an inevitable part of life, with your joints worse off for it. Even if you can avoid accidents, wear and tear in your joints can lead to arthritis, with an estimated 150,000 knee and hip replacements performed in the US every year, predicted to triple by 2040.
While the young and fit can recover from injuries with conventional treatment, we might find our joints don’t respond the same way as we age. Tissue such as cartilage, ligaments, and tendons have very little capacity to regenerate and heal by themselves, which worsens as we age. We often resort to joint replacement and invasive procedures to fix our joints when our bodies cannot.
Traditionally the choice is between conservative management – physical therapy, mobility aids, steroid injections, and surgical procedures, including joint replacement. Conservative measures may be less effective, but invasive surgery comes with pain and medical risks. With the conventional treatment model, the question becomes – should you risk your health or your mobility?
Image Credit: Blue Planet Studio/Shutterstock.com
Regenerative medicine – the solution?
Regenerative medicine is a new field of medicine in which orthopedic surgeons aim to move away from replacement and toward joint preservation. Using orthobiologics, we can provide your body with the cells, materials, and stimulation it needs to heal without you ever going under the knife.
Taken at face value, this seems to be an ideal solution to all of our problems. The promise of regenerative medicine in orthopedics is a future where a joint replacement can be delayed for as long as possible, perhaps offering a solution to long transplant waiting lists for other disciplines of medicine. However, as with any new form of treatment, regenerative medicine isn’t without controversy. The main debate in orthobiologics is whether the body of evidence currently supports incorporating regenerative medicine techniques into national guidelines and conventional treatment strategies.
Case studies and anecdotal evidence often support orthobiologics (biological substances orthopedics surgeons can use to help the body heal) as a treatment option. However, the size and consistency of available studies are still a problem. There is plenty of evidence to support regenerative medicine techniques in specific circumstances such as osteoarthritis and tendinopathy. Still, a broader evidence base will be required before these treatments are accepted as standard practice in wider orthopedic circles.
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