Viable Stem Cells Are in the Injury Effusion Fluid and Arthroscopic Byproducts From Knee Cruciate Ligament Surgery: An In Vivo Analysis.

PURPOSE: To examine the number of viable stem cells contained in the postinjury effusion fluid and the waste byproducts of arthroscopic cruciate ligament surgery.

METHODS: This study included patients older than 18 years of age with acute (<5 weeks old) cruciate ligament injuries requiring arthroscopic surgery. The postinjury effusion fluid (effusion fluid), fat pad and cruciate ligament stump debridement tissue (byproduct tissue), and arthroscopic fluid collected during fat pad and/or stump debridement (byproduct fluid) were collected at the time of surgery from 30 individuals. Specimens were analyzed, investigating cell viability, nucleated cell counts, cell concentrations, colony-forming unit assays, and flow cytometry. Samples from the first 20 individuals were collected in small specimen containers, and samples from the last 10 individuals were collected in larger specimen containers.

RESULTS: Cells of the injury effusion exhibited the greatest viability (86.4 ± 1.31%) when compared with the small volume harvest byproduct tissue (50.2 ± 2.5%, P = .0001), small volume harvest byproduct fluid (48.8 ± 1.88%, P = .0001), large volume harvest byproduct tissue (70.1 ± 5.6%, P = .0001), and large volume harvest byproduct fluid (60.3 ± 3.41%, P = .0001). The culture analysis of fibroblast colony-forming units found on average 1916 ± 281 progenitor cells in the effusion fluid, 2488 ± 778 progenitor cells in the byproduct tissue, and 2357 ± 339 progenitor cells in the byproduct fluid. Flow cytometry confirmed the presence of immature cells and the presence of cells with markers typically expressed by known stem cell populations.

CONCLUSIONS: Viable stem cells are mobilized to the postinjury effusion at the time of cruciate ligament injury and can be found in the byproduct waste of cruciate ligament surgery.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The methodology around effusion fluid and byproduct tissue capture during cruciate ligament surgery should be investigated further. Cell amounts available from these tissues with current technologies are not sufficient for immediate evidence-based clinical application.