You can walk Pain free once again … A novel treatment modality at Wockhardt Hospital. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition of joint cartilage and the underlying bone, most common from middle age onward. The condition is sometimes referred to as ‘wear and tear’. It causes pain and stiffness, especially in the hip, knee, and thumb joints.

The disease progression causes the cartilage that protects the ends of your bones to wear down, causing pain, swelling and problems with mobility. The degeneration causes the protective fluid in the joint to lose its shock-absorbing abilities, causing bones to rub against each other .Apart from the pain and difficulty in mobility the condition causes the cartilage to thin out at the end of the bone leaving it exposed and consequently changing the shape of the joint due to the excessive wearing away of the bone and development of bony spurs.

The main symptoms of OA that patient generally come for treatment to the hospital are with a history of:

  • Pain and swelling occurs when you move the affected joint
  • Stiffness of the joint
  • A grating sensation, also known as crepitus, occurs when you move the affected joint.
  • Lack of movement and disability.

Treatment options for OA patients are limited and largely targeted to pain management, steroidal injections and knee replacement surgery being the final option. These options however can also reduce the pain but not reverse the damage that has occurred in the joints.

Understanding the Role of Growth Factor as a potential as an alternative to surgical treatment at Wockhardt Hospital:

There are many novel techniques today which are being researched on in science for treatment of OA each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

The wheel of innovation in medical science never stops; constant research is the fundament goal in achieving new alternative for treatment of diseases. Today’s science has devised new techniques and concepts which are being developed not only to treat damaged or diseased joint cartilage but also to find ways of achieving regeneration to normal cartilage that will give long-lasting improvements and allow patients to return to a fully active lifestyle. Currently, there are a number of new and interesting opportunities for cartilage repair.

Wockhardt New Age Growth Factor Concentrate (GFC) treatment is the emerging choice for treatment of osteoarthritis and has the new modality of treatment being advocated at the hospital. The growth factor concentrate plays a crucial role in this process since they influence synthetic activity of cartilage and bone cells, thereby regulating physiological remodelling and cartilage healing. Growth factors are a family of diverse substances found naturally in the body that promote and stimulate biological processes and growth. They are a crucial part of the self-regulation of the body (homeostasis), in which an internal balance occurs between mechanisms of growth. The use of the recombinant growth factors (GF) a rapidly growing field in orthopaedics surgery today also FOR healing of cartilage, soft tissues and bone, besides other conditions like diabetes and blood disorders.

“All currently available treatments of Osteoarthritis lead to symptomatic improvement and pain relief only, the Wockhardt New Age Growth Factor Concentrate (GFC) leads to not only pain-relief but also has the potential to heal and regenerate OA damaged cartilage ’- said Dr Mudit Khanna, Mumbai’s renowned joint replacement and advanced orthopaedic surgeon.

Other than promoting healing the mechanism of action of the Growth Factor concentrate speeds up the healing process, resulting in a greater reduction of disability or discomfort for the patient. This technique definitely provides the option for the patient not to undergo surgery GFC treatment involves drawing the patient’s blood and separating the growth factors from the blood and then re- injecting these growth factors in the patient’s joints

So in a nutshell Growth Factors play an intrinsic role in Repair, Regeneration and Restoration of damaged cartilage tissue and bone.

Advantages of the Growth Factor Treatment in Osteoarthritis:

  • Documented pain relief for up to 2 years
  • Potential of actual healing, which no other treatment modality has
  • Non-surgical
  • Less time consuming (~45 mins)
  • No side effects as it is patient’s own growth factors (unlike pain killer or steroidal drugs)

For more information and treatment for arthritis please visit Wockhardt Hospital.