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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
Treatment of Osteochondral Defects in the Rabbit's Knee Joint by Implantation of Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Fibrin Clots
Published on: May 21, 2013
Cell-based therapy in articular cartilage lesions of the knee
Norimasa Nakamura1, Takahide Miyama, Lars Engebretsen
1Department of Orthopaedics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan. n-nakamura@ort.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
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.
