Symptomatic anterior cruciate ligament tears treated with percutaneous injection of autologous bone marrow concentrate and platelet products: a non-controlled registry study

Bone marrow concentrate (BMC) has shown promise in the treatment of several orthopedic conditions. This registry study investigated the use of autologous BMC and platelet products for percutaneous anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) treatment. Twenty-nine patients presenting to a single outpatient interventional musculoskeletal and pain practice with symptomatic grade 1, 2, or 3 ACL tears with less than 1 cm retraction were enrolled. Patients were treated with a percutaneous ACL injection of autologous BMC and platelet products using fluoroscopic guidance. Pre- and post-treatment magnetic resonance imaging analysis was completed for 23 patients using ImageJ software for an objective quantitative analysis of pixel density as a proxy for ACL integrity. Subjective clinical outcome measures collected pre-treatment and at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months post-treatment include the Numerical Pain Scale (NPS), the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS), the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) form, and a modified version of the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation. Seventy-seven percent of patients treated with BMC injections into the ACL showed significant improvement (p