Homologous Use of Allogeneic Umbilical Cord Tissue to Reduce Knee Pain and Improve Knee Function

To determine if knee pain subjects who received cryopreserved umbilical cord tissue (UCT) injected into knee joints experience less knee pain, better function, decreased physical limitations, and reduction of medications (opiates, NSAIDs, and acetaminophen) over a 24 week period, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), and medication usage data were recorded for 30 consenting human knee pain subjects receiving UCT at a single site in the United States. Subject profile information was gathered and analyzed to gain insight into the effects of age, sex, and BMI on improvement over time. Mean resting VAS scores and mean VAS scores with activity improved over 24 weeks (from 1.95 to 0.83 and from 6.28 to 2.87, respectively, p < 0.001). There was no strong evidence of a correlation between sex and VAS scores. There were statistically significant correlations for BMI vs. pre-injection VAS with activity scores and Age vs. pre-injection VAS with activity scores (r = 0.402, p = 0.028 and r = 0.434, p = 0.017, respectively). Mean WOMAC scores improved from 44.7 to 18.5 over 24 weeks (p < 0.001). 77.8% of patients who used medications at the beginning of the study reduced or eliminated medication use. The analysis demonstrates that injections with UCT decrease pain, improve physical function, and allow for less medication use for at least 24 weeks.