Every year we publish updates to our registry data on-line. This fall we’ll be continuing that trend, adding data from almost another 1,000 patients to the mix. This morning I’d like to go over the pain and functional data for patients treated with the Regenexx-SD stem cell procedure for knee arthritis.
First, it’s important to know how we collect this data from our patients. We use a registry, which is a medical way of saying that we track patient progress. To do this we have customized open source software that’s usually used for clinical trials. That program pings patients with e-mails at set time points (1, 3, 6 months and annually). The patient is given standardized questionnaires about pain and function before the procedure and then at these times. If a patient fails to respond, then our registry staff initiates phone calls to try and get the information. The specifics of what was treated and how is also coded and entered into the registry. Finally, on an annual basis or when we need to answer certain clinical questions, our bio statistician queries the registry and provides reports.
The data above is for 710 patients treated for knee arthritis at 18 Regenexx sites (Colorado and Regenexx Network sites). It measures both the pain score and functional scales over a three year period. In summary, these patients reported that pain improved and function increased.
The pain score is the same 0-10 question asked everywhere in medicine right now. The patient simply places a number on their knee pain, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst possible pain. The functional score we use is called the LEFS (Lower Extremity Functional Scale). It measures things like the patient’s ability to work, perform household chores, walk, run, climb stairs, etc…
For the pain score, featured on top right above, the line trends down (less pain). For the function score, featured on the bottom right above, the line trends up (more function). This is what one would expect if these patients were improving.
The upshot? While this knee arthritis stem cell results data is specific to our proprietary treatment protocols, this is again the largest number of knee arthritis patients treated world-wide whose results from a stem cell treatment have been reported. Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting other data on the knee, hip, shoulder, spine, foot/ankle, and hand, so stay tuned!
See Original Post Here: http://www.regenexx.com/2014/09/2014-stem-cell-registry-data-knee-arthritis/