Not Ready for Major Invasive Surgery?

Try LIPOGEMS, A Minimally Invasive, FDA-Cleared Option, Safely Performed in the Office

Why are people not ready for major invasive surgery? 

“There are many people are trying to avoid or prolong the need for major invasive surgery like a knee or hip replacement for a variety of reasons.  Although, knee replacements are a successful procedure, 30% of knee replacement patients are unhappy with their results. Some individuals may be reluctant to undergo major surgery or simply are not surgical candidates. Elderly patients who needed a total joint felt that the procedure would help with their pain and stiffness but were concerned about being a burden on others and a long-term recovery. Others may be seeking options that are more natural and/or minimally invasive,” said Dr. Gruner.

Are you in the orthopaedic treatment gap?

The treatment gap is the time period between limited relief or failure of conservative efforts (such as physical therapy, pain medications, activity modification, viscosupplementation) and the time when they undergo surgical intervention. Typically patients are in the “treatment gap” for 9-20 years and even 40 years for younger patients.  Our goal is to help these patients by providing FDA cleared options backed by peer-reviewed scientific literature to help them live happier and healthier lives. 

What options do you offer patients that are in the treatment gap?

Our goal is to help these patients by providing FDA cleared options backed by peer-reviewed scientific literature to help them live happier and healthier lives.  We like using your own tissue to help support the healing process. Your own fat is one of the most powerful and important tissues in your body. Fat has been used for injury repair since World War I! Your own fat is easy to collect from the belly or ‘love-handles’ using a minimally invasive procedure and local anesthetic. Studies have shown that the quality of the important reparative cells do not decline with age in comparison to other tissue sources.^3,4,5,6 ” Said Dr. Gruner.

Reasons I like using Fat?

1. Fat is minimally invasive to harvest
2. Most people are happy to donate their extra fat
3. Fat is the highest quality tissue
4. Fat has 100-500 times more reparative cells than other similar tissue.7
5. Research has shown that as a person ages, their fat maintains its reparative properties unlike other similar tissue, such as bone marrow, which may lose healing capacity with age. 8,9,10
6. Fat contains many supportive and reparative cells that help provide cushion and support to help the healing process of damaged or injured tissue

What is Lipogems and is it FDA cleared for use in orthopaedics? 

“Lipogems provides patients a natural, FDA-cleared option that can be performed in our office in about an hour using a simple, minimally invasive procedure.” Said Dr. Gruner “Lipogems’ uses the patient’s own fat tissue and the patented system processes and resizes the tissue using only saline in minutes. The processed tissue is called Microfragmented Fat™. Since fat is a structural tissue, it provides cushion and support, allowing it to support the healing of the damaged or injured tissue. I like using Lipogems because it is FDA-cleared for use in orthopaedics and is backed with strong scientific evidence.”  

What are the potential benefits of Lipogems if you are not ready for major surgery?

“I actually had Lipogems Microfragmented Fat for my shoulder and have seen great results. My uncle is a physicist at Cornell is one of the biggest success stories. He was told he needed major invasive surgery for his knees and shoulders but was not ready yet due to his job and lifestyle. He had his own Microfragmented Fat injected in both knees and one shoulder and is doing really well.  He received the injection 4 years ago and is very happy. I want my patients to know that there are options that have great evidence that can truly help patients.”

Dr. Gruner’s top reasons for using Lipogems:

1. Multiple Injections in the Same Session: “Many patients suffer from multiple orthopaedic issues due to wear and tear or compensating for one issue leads to another issue.  One of the reasons I like using Lipogems is we are able to wash, rinse, and resize your own fat tissue for multiple injection sites during a single session. For example, if you suffer from orthopaedic issues in both knees and one shoulder – one can inject in three different joints, with minimal downtime from the procedure and minimal pain medication.  This is an ideal option for patients that are not ready for surgery or want to avoid the hospital and/or do not qualify for surgery.”
2. Natural, Minimally Invasive Procedure with Minimal Complications/Risk: “The procedure is performed in the office/minor procedure room using your own tissue. Using your own tissue has minimal chance of rejection or infection. There have been over 40,000 Lipogems procedures performed with a low rate of minor complications (1-2%) and no major complications reported. I also use ultrasound to make sure that I have the best visualization possible to inject the Microfragmented Fat into the right area(s).”
3. Strong Scientific Evidence From Leading Institutions: “ I graduated from the Mayo Clinic and Georgetown University. Evidence based medicine matters to me because I need to show my patients that the technologies I am offering have robust evidence.  I arm my patients with studies to review to what guides my decision. I don’t think about it from just one patient perspective- I think about it from the macro level perspective to ensure safety, efficacy, and truly determine if that they are getting the best possible option. I have a patient registry and collect all the outcomes on each of my patients.  Lipogems has over 80+ peer-reviewed publications with 3 year follow-up supporting Lipogems. The scientific and clinical studies were performed at leading institutions such as New York University, Harvard University, Emory University, and others. The physicians have a high satisfaction rate for the procedure in  patients that have tried or failed conservative efforts and are not ready for major surgery”
4. Economical and Efficient: “The procedure is economical and the majority of the patients receive one procedure.  In addition, Lipogems is more cost-effective than the costs of major orthopaedic surgery and may be used in multiple sites in the same setting. Major orthopaedic surgery is expensive and the recovery period can be cumbersome and lengthy. There is minimal down time required with the Lipogems procedure.”  

Benefits of Lipogems

• Supported by Strong Scientific Evidence (80+ Publications with up to 3 years of evidence)
• Over 40,000 Procedures Performed World with low rate of minor complications and no major complications reported
• Offered by Leading Orthopaedic Physicians Around the World 
• Available to active military personnel at all Department of Defense Sites and veterans at Veteran Affairs Medical Centers
• Multiple Orthopaedic Issues: Your own Microfragmented Fat (MFat) maybe injected into multiple areas at the same time
• No risk of rejection or infection since you are using your own tissue
• Minimal downtime after the procedure
• Minimal pain medication needed after the procedure

• Economical: 
  • One-time procedure for the majority of people
  • Cheaper than the out of pocket cost of major orthopaedic surgery

Will someone need major orthopaedic surgery in the future?

“It is important to know that individual results may vary. You may or may not need major orthopaedic surgery in the future. You may or may not choose to have the procedure repeated if desired down the road. However, you may want to try this option if you are still suffering from your orthopaedic issue and/or major orthopaedic surgery has been cancelled or delayed or you are not ready for major surgery.” Said Dr. Gruner

If you are interested in learning more about your options, please call to schedule a consultation with Dr. Gruner at 301.493.8884 or click the button below!

REFERENCES 

1. McAlindon TE et al. Effect of Intra-articular Triamcinolone vs Saline on Knee Cartilage Volume and Pain in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2017 May 16;317(19):1967-1975.

2. Kompel A et al. Intra-articular Corticosteroid Injections in the Hip and Knee: Perhaps Not as Safe as We Thought? Radiology. Dec 2019.

3. https://www.niams.nih.gov/newsroom/spotlight-on-research/long-term-benefit-steroid-injections-knee-osteoarthritis-challenged. Accessed on April 20, 2020. 

4. Beane, O.S., et al. (2014). “Impact of aging on the regenerative properties of bone marrow-, muscle-, and adipose-derived mesenchymal stem/ stromal cells.” PloS one 9.12. e115963. 

5. Stolzing, A., et al. (2008). “Age-related changes in human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells: consequences for cell therapies.” Mechanisms of aging and development 129.3: 163-173. 

6. Kern, S., et al. (2006). “Comparative analysis of mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, or adipose tissue.” Stem cells 24.5: 1294-1301

Disclaimer: 

Individual results vary. Not all patients will have the same post-procedure recovery and activity level. See your physician to discuss your potential benefits and risks.The Lipogems System is a sterile medical device intended for the closed-loop processing of your own fat tissue in medical procedures involving the harvesting, concentrating and transferring of your own fat (adipose) tissue harvested with a legally marketed lipoplasty system. This can be a minimally invasive procedure that’s done in the office, to support soft tissue defects and may promote healing in orthopaedics and arthroscopic surgery. Lipogems may or may not be appropriate for all patients. Like any medical procedure, there is a risk for soreness, redness, swelling, and/or pain. These procedures require needle access (size, location and depth vary depending on the procedure) and this may result in (but not limited to), discomfort, pain, apprehension, bruising, tenderness, bleeding, swelling, or infiltration at the injection site. Other symptoms that may occur include lightheadedness, fainting, nausea, or vomiting. There is a slight risk of infection at the injection site and minimal risk of adverse reactions or complications as with any other injection procedure. Since the fat is from your own body there is little concern of disease transmission, allergic reaction or tissue rejection. For patients with chronic medical conditions such as autoimmune, diabetes, heart or lung disease, circulatory diseases or obesity, extreme caution may be necessary. There are rare but possible risks and complications due to fat transfer including an allergic reaction to the local anesthetic, damage to underlying structures,hematoma or seroma (an accumulation of blood or fluid under the skin that may require removal), changes in sensation, unsatisfactory results that may necessitate additional procedures, permanent discoloration caused by a ruptured blood vessel at the treatment site, calcification, a divet in the area of the tissue harvest, perioperative bleeding, a blood clot at the treatment or donor site, an infection, scar tissue, and a fat embolism caused by a fat injection mistakenly directed into a blood vessel, and death. The information presented is for educational purposes only. Speak to your doctor to decide if Lipogems procedure is appropriate for you. Individual results vary and not all patients will return to the same activity level. The lifetime of any procedure is limited and depends on several factors like patient weight and activity level. Your doctor will counsel you about strategies for your post-procedural care. It is important to closely

follow your physician’s instructions regarding post-procedure activity, treatment and follow-up care. Ask your doctor if Lipogems procedure is right for you. Lipogems or other corporate affiliated entities own, use or have applied for the following trademarks or service marks: Lipogems. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners or holders.