A study depicted that in patients with symptomatic hip osteoarthritis, a single bone marrow concentrate injection can improve pain and function scores up to six months.

A study was carried to explore the efficacy of a single intra-articular bone marrow concentrate injection for patients suffering from symptomatic hip osteoarthritis. The study cohort included 24 subjects diagnosed with symptomatic hip osteoarthritis who elected to undergo a single bone marrow concentrate injection. Subjects were not included if they noted a preinjection Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score for pain with the activity of <6 points out of 10.

The following parameters were gathered prior to and after the procedure (6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months) : (i) The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC), (ii) NRS pain scores, (iii) Modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), (iv) 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), and (v) Hip Outcome Score–Activities of Daily Living (HOS-ADL). On preinjection anteroposterior pelvis radiographs, the joint space and tonnis osteoarthritis grade scores were recorded.

Overall, data on 18 hips from 16 patients (7 men, 9 women) were utilized in the final analysis. Remarkable improvements were noted in NRS pain with activity (from 8 to 4.5) and without activity (from 5 to 1), HOS-ADL (from 71 to 85), mHHS (from 63 to 80), and WOMAC (from 31 to 16) over six months.

At six months, all the participants maintained their improvements and did not get back to the pre-procedure status. The BMI was found to be considerably linked with baseline WOMAC scores and inversely associated with six-month SF-12 Physical Component Summary.

Tonnis grades 2 and 3 were inversely associated with six-week SF-12 Mental Component Summary and three-month pain with activity. No severe side effects were witnessed in this study. Thus, a single bone marrow concentrate injection appears to be a valuable alternative to conventional therapies, with the potential to improve pain, joint function, and inflammation.