Cell-based therapy in articular cartilage lesions of the knee.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the effectiveness of cell-based therapy for articular cartilage defects of the knee.

METHODS

We performed a literature search in Medline (1994 to 2009) regarding cell-based therapies for chondral lesions.

RESULTS

We identified 10 Level I or II randomized controlled trials and 3 Level II prospective comparative studies. Although many of these studies had substantial flaws, which could introduce bias, we overall found no difference between the cell-based studies and other interventions. In addition, we identified 26 Level III and IV studies of cell-based therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

There is insufficient evidence from the studies included in this review to say whether cell-based therapy is superior to other treatment strategies in articular cartilage lesions of the knee.