Microfragmented adipose tissue for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the hip: preliminary results

Bacground Purpose : Hip osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative pro-cess where continued cartilage breakdown results from mechanical overload, causing secondary bony and syno-vial changes. There is currently no cure for OA, but there are many treatments and approaches to managing the long- term symptoms of this disease. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of intraarticular microfragmented adipose tissue (MAT) injection in the patients with chronic pain due to early-stage hip OA. Methods : The medical records of 11 patients with a diagnosis of hip OA that did not respond to conservative treatment and who underwent MAT injection were reviewed retrospectively. Visual analog scale (VAS) scores and WOMAC scores, and drug use were recorded before and after the procedure 1 and 3 months of follow-up. Then all data were statistically analyzed. Results: The VAS and WOMAC scores before the procedure were 7±1 and 46.63±4.48. The mean VAS score at 1 and 3 months after the procedure was 3.91± 2.70 and 3.55±2.94, respectively. The mean WOMAC score at 1 and 3 months after the procedure was 26.36±12.20 and 25.99±12.61, respectively. It was determined that 54.2% (n=6) of the patients were determined not to use any analgesic drugs at the third month of follow-up and 18.2 (n=2) had a decrease in drug use compared to the pre-procedure. No serious complication was found in any patient. Conclusions: Our study shows that MAT is an effective treatment in the short to medium term in patients with early-stage hip OA. Randomized controlled trials with a longer follow-up and more patients are needed regarding MAT injection in chronic pain due to hip OA.