Description
The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of echo-guided intrarticular infiltration of MF-AT by monitoring clinical improvement and the possible incidence of adverse events and failures following this treatment. This pilot study included 30 patients with early-stage unilateral coxarthrosis according to the Tönnis classification. Each patient received an autologous ultrasound-guided MF-AT infiltration at the affected hip. The patients were prospectively evaluated at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months using the WOMAC, VAS and HHS scores. To date, all patients up to 6 months of follow-up have been evaluated and consequently included in the current analysis.The WOMAC total score improved from 31.4 (±16.8) to 22.1 (±12.4) at 1 month, to 16.3 (±14.7) at 3 months and to 19.9 (±16.6) at 6 months. The HHS improved from 56.0 (±13.7) to 70.0 (±8.5) at 1 month, to 71.4 (±11.4) at 3 months and to 70.0 (±4.0) at 6 months. The subscales of the WOMAC and the VAS show similar positive trends. No serious adverse events or failures have been reported to date. The use of MF-AT in hip OA is an innovative treatment that has not yet been tested in large case series and long follow-ups. The preliminary results at 6 months of this study are promising and confirm the reduced data already found in the literature by analysing a positive increase in the clinical scores used.