For those seeking relief from sports-related injuries due to conditions like osteoarthritis of the knee, partial rotator cuff tears, joint and tendon injuries, or tennis elbow, a Baylor College of Medicine expert says a fat-derived stem cell injection may be an option.

“With this treatment, I can tackle a number of nonoperative sports and musculoskeletal injuries,” said Dr. Prathap Jayaram, director of regenerative sports medicine and assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Baylor. “Some patients who may be candidates for a stem cell-derived injection are those with partial tears of a rotator cuff and knee osteoarthritis. There is an increasing body of evidence to support regenerative strategies that are beneficial for patients with joint and tendon injuries.”

Jayaram, trained out of Stanford’s world renowned orthopedics department, offers an alternative—a nonoperative procedure that can have patients in and out in 1 day.

There are two types of stem cell-derived treatments available. In addition to the fat-derived stem cell therapy, a bone marrow stem cell therapy also is available. Unlike the bone marrow stem cell therapy, which has been available for some time, the fat-derived stem cell therapy can be easily gathered from an individual using minimally invasive techniques with minimal side effects.

“This treatment helps modulate the inflammatory profile in the joints and optimizing one’s regenerative potential to help alleviate pain and improve function.” said Jayaram.

Often, patients will try repeated steroid injections which does have its limitations and although steroids are great for acute pain, Jayaram said that over time, steroid injections can be more degenerative than regenerative at the tissue level and are not the best long-term option. “Certainly, steroids still have a place, and I still inject steroids for acute pain where it’s indicated, but I don’t use it as a long-term strategy,” he said.

To really complement this treatment, patients also should have tailored physical therapy. “There are specific rehab protocols that go along with these cell-derived injection strategies, and they are both mutually reinforcing,” he said.

This treatment has been FDA-approved and is safe for patients, Jayaram said.