Background
Stem cells are special cells in the body that have the potential to divide into new types of cell to help repair damaged tissues.
Stem cells can be useful for the treatment of osteoarthritis (‘OA’ or simply ‘arthritis’). When used to treat arthritis it is thought the mechanism of action is the release of anti-inflammatory growth factors by the stem cells, rather than any direct tissue repair. Stem cells have been used to treat arthritis for many years now, in people and in dogs.
There is a lack of ‘gold standard’ research to definitively prove that stem cells help arthritis in dogs but there are multiple studies which show that most dogs with arthritis improve after stem cell treatment. They can become more comfortable and more active and the results can be prolonged. It is important to understand however that not every dog will respond to treatment.
What is the process?
At The Moores Orthopaedic Clinic we use a patient’s own stem cells (known as autologous stem cells) derived from adipose tissue (or fat). Your pet will need a minor surgical procedure to harvest the adipose tissue, typically from the abdomen. This requires a full anaesthetic and your pet will typically need to stay with us for half a day. The fat is transported by courier to a laboratory where stem cells are isolated from the adipose tissue and then cultured to increase their number.
Once a sufficient number of stem cells has been grown they are checked for sterility, frozen and returned to us by courier. Your pet will need to visit us a second time, typically around 3 weeks after the adipose tissue biopsy, for a short sedation and injection of the stem cells into the affected joint or joints. This is usually performed whilst you wait and typically takes around 45 minutes.
What should I expect and how long does treatment last?
Most dogs are showing improvements from 4 weeks after injection and the results can last for around a year or longer. Very occasionally dogs may be more sore for a few days after the injection.
It is important to understand that arthritis is a complex disease which often requires multiple treatment interventions. These may include weight loss, exercise modification, medication, joint supplements and physiotherapy/hydrotherapy. Each intervention may make a small difference but together they will hopefully create a big difference. Stem cell treatment is another such intervention and on its own it is unlikely to make a massive difference, especially in very advanced arthritis. If your pet is already requiring medication and other treatments then these may need to be continued although some dogs can reduce or stop their medication after stem cell treatment.
FAQs
How many joints can be treated?
A standard treatment includes enough stem cells for two joints but we can request that more stem cells be provided if there are more joints that need treating.
What about Platelet-Rich Plasma?
PRP is another form of ‘regenerative’ therapy that we can use for treating arthritis. It is simpler and cheaper than stem cell treatment since it does not require a fat biopsy and expensive laboratory fees and can be performed in one visit.
Subjectively it is maybe less effective than stem cell treatment in some dogs and possibly does not last as long. It has been reported that stem cell treatment can be enhanced by using PRP at the same time and so we will often combine the two treatments when we are injecting arthritic joints.
Do you need to repeat the fat biopsy each time?
The laboratory we use to process and expand the stem cells will keep a sample of your dog’s stem cells deep-frozen for future use.
These can be expanded again several times for future treatments without the need for further adipose tissue harvests.
Make an enquiry
Request more
information
