Mesenchymal stem cells injections in traumatology and orthopaedics: common practice or still a promising area with many uncertainties?

PURPOSE: To assess research directions of the Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) injections in traumatology and orthopaedics.

METHODS

The study monitored the protocols of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews (SRs) investigating mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) injections for various traumatological and orthopaedic conditions. Relevant RCT protocols were identified through searches of ClinicalTrials.gov, International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, EU Clinical Trials Register databases for RCTs and SRs were obtained from PROSPERO. The databases were searched from their inception to December 2023.

RESULTS

A total of 449 clinical trials were identified. At the time of the study, 159 (35.4%) trials had been completed, and only 56 (12.5%) had published results in peer-reviewed journals. Data on clinical trial completion were normally distributed (p = 0.145). The duration for trial completion was 40.6 ± 26.5 months (range: 1 to 153 months). The most commonly investigated indications for MSCs injections were osteoarthritis of the hip and knee (37.6%) and spinal cord injuries (10.5%). The most frequent sources of MSCs were bone marrow (26.5%), adipose-derived (20.5%) and umbilical cord (15.4%). Reported MSCs concentrations varied widely, ranging from 0.5 × 10⁶ to 9.7 × 10⁸ cells. The most frequently used concentrations were 1 × 10⁷ (8.2%), 2 × 10⁷ (8.0%), 5 × 10⁷ (5.8%), and 10 × 10⁷ (5.8%) cells, while 59 other dosing schemes were each used in fewer than 1% of trials. Furthermore, 55.5% of protocols did not specify the cell concentration. A search in PROSPERO identified 114 systematic review protocols. By the time of the study, 32 studies (28.10%) had been completed, with the results of 30 (26.32%) published in peer-reviewed journals.

CONCLUSION

MSC injections represent a growing area of research in traumatology and orthopaedics. However, the results of only a small proportion of clinical trials and systematic reviews are published in peer-reviewed journals, which most likely does not allow practitioners to form a full judgement on the efficacy and safety of this treatment.