Efficacy of Micro-fragmented Adipose Tissue Injection for Knee Osteoarthritis.

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) causes patients considerable joint pain and leads to instability, reduced range of motion, and functional limitations. Current treatment limitations have generated interest in alternative options to restore function and alleviate joint pain, some with the aim of healing damaged articular cartilage. There has been preliminary support in the literature for reduced pain and improved functional performance in patients who receive mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as part of a treatment regimen. MSCs can be costly and are limited by complex regulatory issues. This interest in an alternative isolation method lead to the development of Lipogems. Lipogems is a technique to harvest, process, and inject minimally manipulated adipose tissue. This procedure is enzyme free and requires no clonal expansion or manipulation. The goal of this study is to evaluate the possible benefits of reduced joint pain and increased joint functionality in patients with knee osteoarthritis after the injection of Lipogems. In addition, given the limitations of prior research on the efficacy of intra-articular corticosteroids, the investigators will also include this as an additional study group to compare to placebo. There have been case reports published showing favorable outcomes. This would be the first study reporting data on the efficacy of Lipogems for pain relief in knee OA in a randomized, controlled clinical trial with a larger sample of patients. The investigators hypothesize that patients who receive an injection of Lipogems will experience a decrease in pain of the affected knee and an increase in joint functionality in comparison to placebo. The investigators also hypothesize that patients who receive an intra-articular corticosteroid will experience decreased pain or improved functionality in the affected joint compared to placebo.