Cell therapy for athletic injuries
October 5th, 2011 - 8:31 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Sportspersons who were earlier dependent on knee-replacement therapy for athletic injuries now have a new ray of hope in the form of Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) which reduces the recovery time, doctors said here Wednesday.
“ACI is the most preferred type of treatment for cartilage defects. We get the cartilage cells (chondrocyte) from the healthy portion of the patient’s knee after which the cartilage cells are cultivated in three-six weeks,” said Raju Vaishya, senior orthopaedic surgeon at a private hospital in the capital.
After the cells are cultivated and multiplied, they are injected into the diseased area. The cost of the procedure ranges between Rs.1.5 lakh and Rs.3 lakh.
“Cartilage injuries are more common in sportspersons. New cell culture labs are needed to take the process forward in India,” Vaishya added.
The procedure is also known as biological knee-replacement. Experts say it is a step ahead of the conventional knee-replacement that is done for older patients suffering from osteoarthritis.
“Earlier, the patient had to wait till a particular age. ACI can not only be given at the time of the injury, but also reduces the recovery span,” said Anup Dhir, cosmetic surgeon at Apollo hospital, adding that researchers are yet to find stem cell therapy as a treatment for arthritis and cartilage injuries.
“Cell therapy is what we are using now for ACI. Stem cell therapy is a branch of it in which we can culture authentic cells from the body for treating the patient,” Dhir added.
The patient is able to walk in three months and return to normal sporting activity within a year, the doctor claimed.
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Tags: aci, apollo hospital, athletic injuries, cartilage cells, cartilage defects, cell culture, cosmetic surgeon, diseased area, implantation, knee replacement, lakh, new ray, orthopaedic surgeon, osteoarthritis, preferred type, private hospital, ray of hope, recovery time, stem cell therapy, time doctors